Howard Lutnick expects a deal between the US and India in 'not-so-distant' future

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has said that he expects a deal between the US and India in the “not-so-distant future” because both countries have found common ground.

Speaking at the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) Leadership Summit 2025 on June 2 in Washington, D.C., Lutnick said that countries that start negotiations early will get a better deal. "That's the way it is. I think India is trying hard to be one of the earlier countries which I appreciate. But these kinds of deals used to take two or three years and we're trying to get them done in a month, which is just not the ordinary DNA of trading relationships between countries,” he said.

On US President Donald Trump’s rhetoric on high tariffs charged by India, Lutnick said, “The President is willing to call out things straight away, meaning India is very protectionist with tariffs. They have a 100% tariff on this and a 100% tariff on that. And if you ask them why, the answer is: I don’t know why. It’s just is.” Lutnick said the idea of really looking at those things, thinking about them and bringing them down to a level that is reasonable and appropriate so that India and the US can be great trading partners is absolutely on the table and it’s not stressful.

On his close ties with India and Indians, Lutnick said, “One of my best, best friends, Nikesh Arora, is Indian. We went on vacation together. We hung out together. I got interested in India because my friends had unique insights into it. We could really talk about it. I wasn’t a classic American looking at it from the outside. When I would go to India, we'd go to house parties, we played cricket, we just had fun, and it's a different perspective. I am a great fan of India, and even the people in the government know that that's true," he revealed. Arora is the CEO of Palo Alto Networks.

Lutnick, however, pointed out that there were certain things that the Indian government did that generally rubbed the United States the wrong way. “For instance, you generally buy your military gear from Russia. That's a way to kind of get under the skin of America if you're going to buy your armaments from Russia. I think India starting to move towards buying military equipment from the United States, which then goes a long way. And these kinds of things just creating that relationship being a part of BRICS, which is, oh, let's move to not support the dollar and dollar hegemony. That's not really the way to make friends and influence people in America. The President calls that out directly and specifically, and the Indian government is addressing it specifically. And that's how you move on to a really positive place. Put it on the table, address it straight on, resolve it straight on and get to a really good place. And I think that's where we are,” the US commerce secretary said.

"The President thinks America first, but he does not think America only or America exclusively. First, he's got to take care of home, so we're big and strong. But then he's going to take care of his allies. He's going to make sure he takes care of India, who he deeply, deeply admires and respects, and we are going to have a great, great relationship together," said Lutnick.

"We love our allies and want our allies to participate in the AI revolution with us. If India is interested, which of course it is, and it wants to build giant data centres and be a part of that model, we are ready, willing, and look forward to embracing India as a partner and friend," he added.

The US Commerce Secretary said the relationship between Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is very strong. "President Donald Trump is the only person in our administration elected by the full United States of America and so does PM Modi in India - if you think about the world, how many other leaders are elected by their country very, very rare, so that connection is pretty unique because it's rare. So their relationship is very strong and very positive. That gives me an easy path to trade negotiations because we start from a very positive place," he said.