India, Jan. 9 -- The ministry of external affairs said on Friday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken to US President Donald Trump eight times in 2025 amid strained New Delhi-Washington ties over the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and tariff issues.

While the remarks were not directly in response to US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's claims that US-India FTA negotiations were stalled because "PM Modi didn't call President Trump", they appeared to be made in light of them.

"We have seen the remarks. India and the US were committed to negotiating a bilateral trade agreement as far back as February 13, 2025. Since then, the two sides have held multiple rounds of negotiations to arrive at a balanced and mutually beneficial trade agr...