On 13 July 2026, a single wire report set off a rare spectacle in international diplomacy: the commerce minister of one country and the ambassador of another, within hours of each other, publicly branding the same story false. Reuters had reported that India “rejected” a quick trade agreement with the United States and was “holding out for a better deal.” By evening, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal had called the report “completely false, baseless and misleading,” US Ambassado