Rubio Says US 'Very Close' to India Trade Deal, Cites Energy in Russia Sanctions Waiver

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday that Washington is 'very close' to completing a trade agreement with India. Speaking to reporters in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, he linked the ongoing trade talks to decisions on national security waivers. Rubio is scheduled to visit India on Tuesday and meet External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Mumbai.

The remarks followed President Donald Trump's decision days earlier to waive certain sanctions related to Russian energy. The sanctions stemmed from the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, which would have imposed tariffs of up to 100% on the top five buyers of Russian crude oil or gas, a group that includes India. The secondary sanctions have only been deferred, meaning Trump could still invoke the law against those countries later.

Rubio said the US has 'had to waive sanctions over the past few months' due to the global supply situation and the effect on other nations. He pointed to high energy prices worldwide, noting that diesel costs are high in the US but 'really, really high' in many other countries. He added that geography makes it difficult for some countries to diversify their energy imports, and that such factors must be balanced in foreign policy.

A day before his latest comments, Rubio acknowledged that India had diversified its energy imports but said it would be hard for New Delhi to pivot away from Russian supplies overnight. He noted that India still receives a substantial amount of energy from Russia because such a shift cannot happen from one day to the next.

On the Indian side, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said last week that the first tranche of the bilateral trade agreement is ready and undergoing legal drafting. He expressed hope that it would be finalized soon and operationalized once India gains a comparable or competitive advantage over peer countries. Rubio's upcoming visit to India is expected to advance those discussions.