‘Will happen shortly’: Secretary of State Marco Rubio on India-US trade deal

New Delhi: US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio arrived in India on Tuesday. He talked about the ongoing trade discussions between India and the US, the Ukraine-Russia war, India buying Russian oil and also other geopolitical developments around the world.

Rubio also talked about the ongoing trade negotiations between India and the US. He clarified that the State Department was not directly responsible for the negotiations on trade, however he added that they were very much involved in what was currently going on.

State Department very much involved in trade agreement with India: Rubio

Rubio was quoted by the Times of India as saying, “As far as the trade agreement is concerned, the State Department doesn’t negotiate trade agreements, but we are very much involved in what’s happening. My counterpart, the National Security Advisor and I care a lot about it. We are very close. I would say that we are about as close as you can be without having executed the agreement.”

He further said that there are just a small number of items still left to wrap up . So he expressed confidence that this would happen soon and the deal will be done. He added that he hoped that there would be some good news to announce soon on the trade deal and then the deal would be finally signed.

He said that the US was really optimistic about successful talks.

He further said that the US delegation would talk to the Reliance group about producing oil in Venezuela. He also added that India had recently made considerable progress in diversifying its oil purchases. This he said was a “smart thing to do.”

Upon being questioned about India’s role in meeting the world’s energy requirements, Rubio described the country as a “refining superpower.” He went on to explain that India had the capacity to refine heavy crude. He said that India has already been doing this in the past and as more and more oil comes in from Venezuela, they would continue to do it.

He however said that he was not trying to say that Venezuela alone can fill in the oil gap, caused by certain “happenings around the world.” But he said that he felt that in the short term this can help. He said that he would talk about India buying oil from the country and such discussions have happened in the past as well. He said that India seems to be prepared to buy the oil.

Rubio then talked about Foreign Minister S Jaishankar’s visit to the US. He said that the Indian Minister had been to the US 4 times, this year alone. Describing the country as the most populous democracy, the US Secretary of State said that India was an “important commercial partner and business partner of the US.”

He said that India and the US do a lot of defence cooperation. He also described the 2 countries as a “strong strategic partner.” He said that the 2 countries still have a long way to go, and do a lot, when it comes to building ties.