Responding at the weekly media briefing, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India and the United States had been close to concluding a trade agreement on several occasions and remained interested in a mutually beneficial deal. He pointed out that Modi and Trump had spoken on the phone eight times in 2025 alone. The bill has been authored by US Senator Lindsey Graham, who has claimed that President Trump has green-lighted the move. “We are aware of the proposed bill and are closely following the developments,” Jaiswal said. Expressing concern, Jaiswal noted that India had a large community in the United States and was following developments related to the incident.

Source: The Telegraph January 09, 2026 12:05 UTC