While all eyes were peeled for new word on how far along India and America are in sealing a trade deal, US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick also made it a point to reveal his personal experience with the Indian community at a Washington, D.C. event. His comments were a part of a keynote address at the 8th US-India Partnership Forum (USISPF) on Monday, June 2, where he was accompanied by other key officials like Second Lady Usha Vance, US Senator Steve Daines and Rich McCormick, US Congressman and co-chair of the India Caucus.

Identifying as a “great fan” of the country, Lutnick made a not-so-secret admission about himself. “One of my best, best friends, Nikesh Arora, is Indian,” he revealed, while also sharing that Anshu Jain, the former Deutsche Bank CEO, is one of the dearest friends of Arora, who is the CEO of Palo Alto Networks.

Spilling how they all went on vacation together, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik said, “Ultimately what happened is I would go on these gold weekends, and I would be the only White guy on the gold weekend.” Despite their over cultural differences, the American government official never felt like the “classic American looking at it from the outside.”

He divulged that his interest in the South Asian country was owed to his Indian friend circle and their unique insights. “When I would go to India, we’d go to house parties, play cricket, we just had fun. It’s a different perspective.” And so, he eventually became a “great fan of India,” and now “even the people in the government know that’s true.”

During his address, Howard Lutnick also hinted at a trade deal between India and the United States to be finalised in the “not-so-distant” future. Furthermore, he happily opened about the rare and unique connection between US President Donald Trump and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi being defined by a positive spark.

#WATCH | At the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum in Washington, DC, US Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick says, "…I am a great fan of India, and even the people in the government know that that's true."

He says, "One of my best friends, Nikesh Aurora, is Indian… When… pic.twitter.com/QCP82Na34n

— ANI (@ANI) June 3, 2025

As for the people Lutnick mentioned in his answer, Nikesh Arora is an Indian-American business executive. He is best known as the Chairman and CEO of the American cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks. The Boston College post-graduate is worth $1.4 billion, according to Forbes. Prior to his 2018 Palo Alto Networks mission, he spent nearly a decade at Google, where he was a chief business officer, before switching paths to Japanese investment giant Softbank in 2014. While there, he was promoted to president and chief operation officer a year after beginning his new professional journey.

Meanwhile, Anshu Jain, the former Deutsche Bank co-CEO, was a top finance executive until he passed away after a five-year battle with cancer in August 2022. Though born in India, he was the first non-European to lead the German institution, as per Reuters.