• Trump warns tariffs will rise unless Russian oil imports are curbed.
• Indian rupee hits record low on US tariff pressure.
• India seeks mid-range tariff rate; Lutnick says offer has expired.

NEW DELHI: India’s trade pact with the United States was delayed because Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not make a telephone call to President Donald Trump to close a deal they were negotiating, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Friday.

The trade talks fell apart last year and Trump doubled tariffs on Indian goods in August to 50%, the world’s highest rate, including a levy of 25% in retaliation for India’s purchases of Russian oil.

“It’s all set up and you have got to have Modi call the President. And they were uncomfortable doing it,” Lutnick said in an interview on the All-In podcast, a US show by four venture capitalists that focuses on business and technology.

“So Modi didn’t call.”

The comments came after Trump stepped up the pressure for talks with a warning this week that tariffs could rise further unless India curbs its Russian oil imports.

That step pushed the Indian rupee to a record low and spooked investors waiting for progress in two-way negotiations for a trade deal that remains elusive.

India still seeks a tariff rate between Washington’s offers to Britain and Vietnam that had formerly been agreed but the offer has expired, Lutnick added.

India’s trade ministry did not immediately respond to an e-mailed request for comment on Lutnick’s remarks.

New Delhi and Washington were very close to a trade deal last year but a communication breakdown led to the collapse of any potential pact, Reuters reported.

It cited an Indian government official involved in the talks as saying that Modi could not have called Trump, for fear that a one-sided conversation would put him on the spot.

The ministry told Danish outlet Berlingske that soldiers would be required to counter any foreign invasion without awaiting orders under the military’s rules of engagement.

The 1952 rule states that in the event of an invasion, forces should respond “without waiting for or seeking orders, even if the commanders in question are not aware of the declaration of war or state of war”.

The remark from Danish Defence Ministry came after US President Donald Trump reiterated his push to take over Greenland, after attacking Venezuela.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “President Trump has made it well known that acquiring Greenland is a national security priority of the United States, and it’s vital to deter our adversaries in the Arctic region.”

“The President and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilising the US Military is always an option at the Commander in Chief’s disposal,” she added.

Meanwhile, the top Washington-based diplomats for Greenland and Denmark on Thursday met with the White House officials at the National Security Council.

As Greenland continues to publicly and privately insist it is not for sale, Denmark’s Ambassador Jesper Møller Sørensen and Greenland’s head of representation to the US Jacob Isbosethsen met with Trump advisors.

Notably, President Donald Trump has been proclaiming that he wants to purchase Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, since 2019.

In fact, Trump has also raised the specter of using the military to take Greenland by force.

Trump’s renewed focus on Greenland comes just days after he authorised a military operation to capture the President of Venezuela.

Following the operation, tensions were heightened among Danish and Greenlandic officials about Trump’s potential willingness to seize Greenland.

Rubio, meanwhile, told lawmakers earlier this week that Trump was interested in buying Greenland and downplayed the possibility of any forthcoming US military intervention to take the island by force, CNN reported citing sources.

Denmark has repeatedly insisted that the island is “not for sale”. The European leaders had warned Trump in a joint statement that the territorial integrity of Greenland and Denmark should be respected.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen had also warned Trump that any US attack on Greenland would mean the end of the NATO alliance and “the security that has been established since the end of the Second World War.”

Take Trump seriously on Greenland, Vance warns Europe

US Vice President JD Vance warned Europe on Thursday to take Donald Trump “seriously” on Greenland as the president ramps up threats against the Danish-ruled Arctic territory.

Vance accused fellow NATO member Denmark and the rest of Europe of failing to do enough to protect the strategically-located island from the designs of Russia and China.

European capitals have been scrambling to come up with a coordinated response after the White House said this week that Trump wanted to buy Greenland and refused to rule out military action.

“I guess my advice to European leaders and anybody else would be to take the president of the United States seriously,” Vance told a briefing at the White House when asked about Greenland.

Vance urged them to respond in particular to Trump’s insistence that the United States needs the island for “missile defense,” with Moscow and Beijing increasing military activities nearby and the Arctic ice melting due to climate change.

“So what we’re asking our European friends to do is to take the security of that land mass more seriously, because if they’re not, the United States is going to have to do something about it,” Vance said.

“What that is, I’ll leave that to the president as we continue to engage in diplomacy with our European friends and everybody on this particular topic.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is due to meet officials from Denmark and Greenland next week.

An emboldened Trump has long talked about acquiring Greenland but has ramped up his threats since the US military operation to topple Venezuela’s ruler Nicolas Maduro last week.

Turning away

The threats have infuriated Denmark, a founding NATO member and long-time US ally, and set alarm bells ringing across Europe.

An invasion would pit Washington against fellow NATO member Denmark and threaten to blow up the entire military alliance, which is based on a mutual self-defense clause.

A flurry of diplomacy is underway as Europeans try to head off a crisis while at the same time avoiding the wrath of Trump, who is nearing the end of his first year back in power.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer “set out his position on Greenland” during a call with Trump on Wednesday and then said more could be done to protect the “high Arctic” from Russia in a second call on Thursday, Downing Street said.

Vance was meeting British Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy in Washington for talks that would focus on the Ukraine war, but where Greenland could come up.

European countries have stood in solidarity with Denmark, with key leaders issuing a joint statement with Copenhagen saying it was for Denmark and Greenland alone to decide its fate.

French President Emmanuel Macron even warned on Thursday that the United States was “turning away” from allies in some of his strongest criticism yet of Trump’s policies.

Macron said “global governance” was key at a time when “every day people wonder whether Greenland is going to be invaded.”

Vance, however, has long been critical of Europe over defense issues, saying in a leaked chat with senior US officials last year that he hated “bailing out” the continent.

The Trump administration’s new US national security strategy launched a brutal attack on Europe in December, describing it as facing “civilisational erasure” from migration and calling for “cultivating resistance” among right-wing parties.

• Bangladesh, India face strain in diplomatic ties since Hasina’s ouster.
• Hossain directs 3 missions in India to close their visa sections.
• Bangladesh Deputy HC in Kolkata restricts visa services.

Bangladesh’s interim government has directed its key diplomatic missions in India, including the High Commission in New Delhi, to suspend visa services citing security concerns, a move that underscores the continuing strain in Dhaka’s relations with New Delhi.

Foreign Affairs Adviser M Touhid Hossain said at a media briefing at his office on Thursday that he had instructed Bangladesh’s three missions in India to temporarily close their visa sections, The Star Daily reported on Friday.

“What I have done is that I have asked our three missions [in India] to keep their visa sections closed for the time being. It’s a security issue,” Hossain said.

The remarks came after Bangladesh’s Deputy High Commission in Kolkata overnight restricted visa services, following similar steps taken earlier by missions in New Delhi and Agartala. However, business and work visas were kept outside the scope of the restriction.

Bangladesh also maintains diplomatic missions in Mumbai and Chennai, where visa services continued to operate.

India had previously imposed restrictions on visas for Bangladeshi nationals after August 5, 2024, citing security concerns.

Ties between Dhaka and New Delhi have remained strained since the Awami League government of then prime minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted following violent, student-led street protests in July and August 2024.

It may be noted that the Dhaka-Delhi ties further strained after the former refused to send its national cricket team to India for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2026, on the basis of “security concerns”.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) requested the International Cricket Council (ICC) to shift Bangladesh matches outside India.

In its detailed letter to the ICC, Bangladesh board also noted that the fears were not limited to the players, but the provision of visas to media officials, fans, and other stakeholders is also part of the concerns. BCB also cited the government’s stance on the issue.

The venues became contentious after fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman was removed from the Indian Premier League (IPL) squad amid deteriorating diplomatic relations between the two countries, although no official reason was provided.

Following the incident, the Bangladesh government banned the broadcast of the IPL in the country, and the BCB formally wrote to the ICC stating it would not play its T20 World Cup matches in India.