NEW DELHI: Ahead of his meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Mumbai at 3.30 pm on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington was “trying to finalise a trade deal with India” and was “very close to doing that.”
Rubio also defended the US decision to grant waivers on sanctions targeting Russian oil and gas, saying Washington had to consider the impact of such measures on global energy supplies and prices. “Can’t unravel the economy of other countries because of one central issue,” Rubio said, ahead of his India trip and explained the need to balance sanctions policy with broader economic considerations. “We’ve had to waive sanctions over the past few months because of the impact on global supplies and prices,” he added. Rubio said the US considers several factors when deciding on national security waivers, including countries’ energy requirements and their ability to access alternative sources of supply.
“Every country has a complex set of factors that it has to take into account. Geography is real. For some countries, it’s very difficult to acquire energy from alternative sources,” he said, adding that these considerations were not an excuse but had to be weighed while framing foreign policy.
His remarks come amid continued differences over India’s purchases of Russian energy, with New Delhi maintaining that its energy procurement decisions are guided by national interests and the need to ensure affordable and reliable supplies. The issue remains part of the broader strategic context of India-US relations, alongside efforts to strengthen economic cooperation and conclude a bilateral trade agreement.
On trade, Rubio’s comments signal progress in negotiations between the two countries. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal recently said the first tranche of the India-US bilateral trade agreement had been finalised and was undergoing legal drafting, with the government hoping to complete the process soon.
“The US bilateral trade agreement’s first tranche has been finalised and it is going through final contours, the legal drafting and we hope to be able to finalise that soon and operationalise that once we get the competitive advantage over our peer countries,” Goyal said at an event in New Delhi.
Rubio also called for greater diversification of global supply chains, warning against excessive dependence on any single country or region for critical goods and resources.
“It’s just not smart for the whole world to depend on one place for 100% of anything. Because then you’re dependent on what happens in that country or what happens in that region,” he said.
Rubio arrived in Mumbai on Tuesday and is scheduled to pay tribute to the victims of the November 2008 Mumbai terror attacks at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, one of the sites targeted by Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba. He is also scheduled to attend American Independence Day celebrations in the city.
On Wednesday, Rubio is due to depart Mumbai for Jamnagar at 10.30 am, according to the itinerary provided. The “Freedom 250 Reception”, marking the US Independence Day, will be held at the Jio World Convention Centre on Tuesday evening, with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expected to attend.