At the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum held in Washington DC, US Commerce Secretary Lutnick spoke openly about the strengthening ties between India and the US. Referring to the popularity and mandate of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump, he said, ‘Trump is the only leader in America who is elected by the entire country and the same is the case with Prime Minister Modi in India. There are very few such leaders in the world who have the mandate of the entire country. This makes the relationship between the two special and rare. This strong relationship is a positive start in the form of a trade agreement. When the relationship is strong, the path to a trade agreement becomes easy.’ Howard Lutnick said, “Trade agreements usually take years, but India is trying to speed up the process. The country that takes the first step always gets a better deal. India is active in this direction and we hope that an agreement can be reached soon that is beneficial to both countries.”
Lutnik shared his personal attachment to India. He said, “I am a huge fan of India. One of my good friends is Nikesh Arora, who is Indian. When I went to India, we used to play cricket, have parties at houses, it was a different experience.”
