US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US is very close to finalising a trade deal with India. He spoke ahead of his meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Mumbai on October 20. Officials said the first phase of the pact is currently undergoing final legal drafting.
The US is “very close” to finalising a trade deal with India, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, while explaining how global energy supplies, oil prices and national security concerns influence Washington’s decisions on Russian oil sanctions, according to ANI.
Rubio’s remarks come ahead of his meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Mumbai on October 20, Reuters reported.
US CONSIDERS MULTIPLE FACTORS IN RUSSIAN OIL SANCTIONS
Speaking about US waivers on Russian oil and gas sanctions, Rubio said Washington had to consider their impact on global energy supplies and prices.
“We've had to waive sanctions over the past few months because of the impact on global supplies and prices,” he said.
Rubio added that the US takes several factors into account when making decisions on national security waivers, including the difficulties some countries face in securing energy from alternative sources.
“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.
He added that these factors were not an excuse but needed to be balanced while making foreign policy decisions.
Rubio also linked the ongoing trade negotiations with India to the broader considerations involved in decisions on national security waivers.
INDIA-US TRADE DEAL IN FINAL STAGES
Rubio's comments come as India and the US continue to work towards concluding a bilateral trade agreement.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal recently said that the first phase of the India-US trade pact had been finalised and was undergoing legal drafting. The government hopes to complete the process soon, he said.
“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, according to PTI.
The two countries announced a framework for an interim trade deal in February. However, the agreement has yet to be operationalised, amid prolonged negotiations.
Goyal had earlier said that changing global circumstances would need to be considered while finalising the pact. On October 14, he described India-US relations as “very good” and said he did not see any problems in bilateral ties despite the delay in concluding the trade agreement.
The October 20 meeting between Jaishankar and Rubio is expected to cover key areas of bilateral cooperation, including energy, trade and investment, defence, and critical and emerging technologies, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said during a briefing.
The talks come as both countries seek to advance their trade negotiations and strengthen cooperation across several areas of bilateral ties.