New Delhi: US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke by phone on Tuesday (September 16) night in their first call since June, with both leaders publicly referring only to birthday greetings and the Ukraine war.Earlier that day, trade negotiators from the two countries met in Delhi and described their discussions as positive.“Thank you, my friend, President Trump, for your phone call and warm greetings on my 75th birthday,” Modi posted on X. “Like you, I am also fully committed to taking the India-US Comprehensive and Global Partnership to new heights. We support your initiatives towards a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine conflict.”Trump also referred to the call in a post on Truth Social. “Just had a wonderful phone call with my friend, Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I wished him a very Happy Birthday! He is doing a tremendous job. Narendra: Thank you for your support on ending the War between Russia and Ukraine! President DJT.”Neither leader mentioned trade in their public accounts of the call.The last conversation between the two leaders had taken place on June 18, when Modi rejected Trump’s repeated claim that Washington had mediated the end of the clashes between India and Pakistan the previous month.Foreign secretary Vikram Misri said then that Modi had conveyed to Trump that “at no point during this entire sequence of events was there any discussion, at any level, on an India-US trade deal, or any proposal for a mediation by the US between India and Pakistan”.Despite this public denial, Trump has continued to claim credit for halting the fighting, calling it one of the “seven wars” he says he ended.Indian officials and observers believe New Delhi’s refusal to validate Trump’s version of events may have contributed to Washington’s decision in August to impose 50% tariffs on Indian exports, the steepest duty in the world alongside Brazil.Since June, Trump has repeatedly returned to the theme, while his aides have also kept up a steady barrage of criticism against New Delhi.Commerce secretary Howard Lutnick said India needed to “say sorry” and return to the table, senior counsellor Peter Navarro accused India of acting as a “laundromat for the Kremlin” and even called the Ukraine conflict “Modi’s war,” while treasury secretary Scott Bessent has pressed US allies to target India’s purchases of Russian oil.Meanwhile, Modi went to China for the first time in seven years to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)’s summit, where he publicly held hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin and shared a laugh with Chinese President Xi Jinping.While American officials criticised Modi’s SCO bonhomie with China and Russia, a week later, however, the prime minister skipped a virtual BRICS summit convened by Brazil that criticised US tariffs.Around the same time, he was also publicly engaged in calls with European leaders about the urgency of working towards peace in Ukraine.A sign of ‘thaw’ was on September 5, when Trump described Modi as a “friend” and said the two countries shared a “special relationship”. Modi promptly responded on X, calling the partnership “very positive and forward-looking”.Four days later, on September 9, Trump said on Truth Social that negotiations with India were “continuing”, in his first direct confirmation in months that the talks were not on hold.Modi replied that he looked forward to speaking with Trump soon and said he was “confident that our trade negotiations will pave the way for unlocking the limitless potential of the India-US partnership”.Against that backdrop, before the two leaders spoke, their negotiators met on Tuesday in Delhi.Assistant US trade representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch, the chief American negotiator, arrived after stops in Colombo and Dhaka to meet special secretary in the commerce ministry Rajesh Agrawal. It was their first face-to-face interaction since July.The US embassy spokesperson said Lynch had a “positive meeting” with his Indian counterpart to discuss “next steps in bilateral trade negotiations”.India’s commerce ministry struck a similar note, saying the talks were “positive and forward-looking” and that the two sides had agreed to “intensify efforts to achieve [the] early conclusion of a mutually beneficial trade agreement”.The ministry added that discussions covered “various aspects” of the proposed deal and “acknowledged the enduring importance of bilateral trade between India and the US”.Agrawal had told reporters on the eve of the meeting that Lynch’s visit should be seen as a “continuation” of talks rather than a formal negotiating round.“It will definitely be a discussion on the trade talks and on trying to see how we can reach an agreement between India and the US,” he said.A session planned for late August was postponed after Washington announced its 50% tariff on Indian exports. The duty was split between a 25% ‘reciprocal’ levy to match India’s import barriers and a 25% penalty tied to New Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil.The last in-person meeting between the two sides had taken place in mid-July in the US.The issue of Russian oil imports remains one of the most contentious in the negotiations. While US officials have accused India of acting as a “laundromat” for Russian energy, New Delhi has said it will continue purchases as long as supplies remain economically viable. External affairs minister S. Jaishankar has argued that Washington itself told India in 2022 it had “no issues” with the policy.Meanwhile, the US has been pressing its G7 partners to also impose tariffs on countries that purchase Russian crude oil, with China and India the largest buyers, in a bid to curb Moscow’s capacity to sustain the war in Ukraine.US treasury secretary Bessent made the appeal to the US’s G7 partners during an online meeting of the grouping’s finance ministers chaired by current president Canada last week.The tariff regime itself is also facing a legal battle in Washington. On September 4, the Trump administration petitioned the US Supreme Court to uphold its authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, after a federal appeals court ruled against its use of the law. The petition cited the India tariffs as part of Washington’s response to the Ukraine war.According to the Global Trade Research Initiative, Indian exports to the US could fall from $86.5 billion in FY2025 to about $49.6 billion in FY2026, with labour-intensive sectors such as textiles, carpets, furniture, shrimp and gems and jewellery already under strain. The think tank called the tariffs a “strategic shock” that could lock India out of key markets even after duties are rolled back.