As Operation Sindoor paused, India activated lobbyists to reach out to Trump admin

This came five days after President Trump had spoken about pressuring India and Pakistan to end hostilities using the trade deal as a bargain chip. At a meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on May 21, Trump had said, “If you take a look at what we just did with Pakistan and India. We settled that whole, and I think I settled it through trade.” FARA filings reveal that Miller-led SHW Partners LLC between April and December 2025 assisted the Indian Embassy with trade deal talks and organised meetings for Indian officials with the US State Department and National Security Council.

Ahead of the Congress MP Shashi Tharoor-led all-party parliamentary delegation’s arrival in the US, the Indian Embassy made several calls to various senior officials in the White House, seeking meeting time for the delegation. Between May 31 and June 5, five such calls/ email requests were made. The all-party delegation met Vance and Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, besides representatives of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the India Caucus.

Meanwhile, Pakistani  officials sought over 50 meetings with senior US administration figures, lawmakers and media outlets between the launch of Operation Sindoor and the ceasefire. FARA records indicate that the Pakistani Embassy reached out repeatedly through emails, phone calls and in-person meetings to more than 60 officials and intermediaries.

Ever since Trump took office a year ago, the Indian Embassy hired two lobbying firms, helmed by those considered part of the President’s inner circle. SHW Partners LLC, signed up in April, for $1.8 million (Rs 16.21 crore) for a year, is helmed by Jason Miller, who was chief spokesperson for Trump’s 2016 campaign. In August 2025, the Indian Embassy signed a second lobbying firm, Mercury Public Affairs, at a $75,000 (Rs 67.57 lakh) monthly retainer contract for three months, which has Bryan Lanza, communications director for the 2020 Trump transition team, in its core team. Trump’s Chief of Staff Susie Wiles was a registered lobbyist with the firm until late 2024.

Days before the 50% penalty tariff came into effect, and the trade deal negotiations also hit a roadblock, Mercury was tasked “to provide strategic communications services including federal lobbying, media relations, digital audit, social media strategy and advertising”. While New Delhi hasn’t enrolled any new lobbying firm in Washington DC after August, even as negotiations over the trade deal continue, Islamabad hired another lobbyist to highlight its rare earth mineral potential, just days after the Donald Trump-Asif Munir meeting in September, filings under FARA show.

A filing by Ervin Graves Strategy Group signed by its president and CEO, former Republican Congressman Tom Graves, under FARA shows that the firm was hired by the Pakistan Embassy on October 1. The mandate was to “promote Pakistan’s rare earth potential and assess how the United States’ requirements can align with the same”.

As on January 6, Pakistan had three active lobbyists in the US — Qorvis, Ervin Graves Strategy Group and Squire Patton Boggs. India, too, has three — Mercury Public Affairs, BGR Government Affairs and SHW Partners. Deals available on the FARA portal show that India spends $2,25,000 (Rs 2.02 crore) a month on two of its lobbyists ($75,000 a month for Mercury and $1,50,000 a month for SHW). The agreement with BGR shows India was to pay $3,00,000 (Rs 2.70 crore) for its work from April 1, 2024 to September 30, 2024, however, it is listed as an active foreign agent on India’s behalf. Pakistan spends $3,00,000 on its three lobbyists.

Mukesh Aghi, President and CEO of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum , told The Indian Express: “Both Jason Miller and Susie Wiles are known to the President, with Wiles being the key figure in the Oval as the Chief of Staff. The current flavour of Washington is not bipartisan, but existing proximity to a core group of decision-makers.”

The tradition of India hiring lobbying firms started two decades ago in the wake of the sanctions on India after the Pokhran tests in 1998 and in the run-up to the civil nuclear deal.