India signs $1.8-million lobbying deal with Trump-linked firm SHW Partners LLC

INdia’s embassy in booker t. Washington has signed a 12-month, $1.8 jillion undertake with lobbying house SHW Partners LLC to beef up its outreach to the Trump administration, according to disclosures reviewed by HT. The firm, headed by President Donald Trump’s former spokesperson Jason Miller, was first hired to lobby for India in April 2025.“SHW provides strategic counsel, tactical planning, and government relations assistance on policy matters before the US Government, US Congress, state governments, academic institutions, think tanks, and any other relevant stakeholders,” the firm said in a disclosure filed with the US Department of Justice on June 17.Also Read | Operation Amistad: India works round-the-clock to help quake-hit in Venezuela | PhotosContract began on April 24The firm’s new contract with the Indian Embassy began on April 24 this year and will run until April 23, 2027, the disclosures show. SHW Partners was initially retained under a similar agreement covering April 2025 to April 2026, with the Indian Embassy paying the firm $450,000 in advance every quarter.Jason Miller, SHW’s founder and a long-time political strategist closely associated with Donald Trump, rose to national prominence in 2016 while serving as Trump’s chief media spokesperson. Although he did not join the Trump administration amid a controversy, Miller has remained a prominent figure within Trump’s political circle. He advised Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign and returned as a strategist for the 2024 presidential campaign.Also Read | India-US trade deal 99% done, signing expected in weeks, predicts Sergio GorSHW Partners helped India engage with influential officialsAccording to disclosures filed by the firm, SHW Partners helped India engage with influential officials in the Trump administration following the April 2025 Pahalgam terror attack and during Operation Sindoor in May. Those contacted included White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Under Secretary of War Elbridge Colby and then-National Security Council official Ricky Gill.After Operation Sindoor commenced in the early hours of May 7, SHW Partners pitched an interview for Ambassador Vinay Kwatra with Fox News anchor Brett Baier. The firm also reached out to various US departments in June to arrange meetings between External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and senior US officials, including Vice President JD Vance, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.Through July and August, the firm also facilitated outreach to White House officials, the US Trade Representative and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to discuss ongoing US-India trade negotiations.