India, Jan. 9 -- India on Friday strongly rejected remarks by US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick that a long-pending India-US trade agreement failed to materialise because Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not make a phone call to President Donald Trump, calling the characterisation of the talks "not accurate".

Responding to the comments, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said New Delhi and Washington have been engaged in sustained and detailed negotiations on a bilateral trade pact for more than a year and remain committed to concluding a mutually beneficial agreement.

"We have seen the remarks. India and the US were committed to negotiating a bilateral trade agreement as far back as February 13 last year. On several occasions, w...