Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump held a phone conversation Thursday as negotiators from both sides continue discussions on a trade arrangement.
According to Modi’s X post, the two leaders reviewed the steady progress in India-US bilateral ties and exchanged views on key regional and global developments. “India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity,” Modi wrote.
Had a very warm and engaging conversation with President Trump. We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the U.S. will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity.…
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 11, 2025
The call comes a day after the top US trade official called India “a difficult nut to crack”. As American negotiators opened a two-day round of talks in New Delhi on Wednesday, USTR Jamieson Greer said in Washington that the US had received its “best ever” trade proposal from India.
While Washington has been seeking to redirect exports of crops like corn and soybeans away from China and into markets such as India, New Delhi has held firm on protecting its small farmers from foreign competition. These disagreements over farm imports had earlier led to the collapse of negotiations in August.
Earlier on Monday, Trump warned of imposing new tariffs on Indian rice over alleged dumping in the American market. The US already levies a steep 50% tariff on Indian goods, its highest rate on any country. Trump’s remark followed complaints from a Louisiana-based farm representative at a White House roundtable, who said US growers were suffering because of rice dumping by India, China and Thailand. Trump responded by insisting that such practices must end and that tariffs would address the issue.