Rubio Tells The Indian Express US-India Trade Deal Is Weeks Away, Says Visa Curbs Not Aimed at India
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview with The Indian Express, conducted in Mumbai on October 20 and published on October 21, that a U.S.-India trade agreement is about 99 percent complete and could be finalized within weeks. He spoke with reporter Shubhajit Roy about the trade deal, tariffs, visas and energy cooperation.
"I think we're incredibly close. The way I would say it is, we are weeks, not months, away from finalising it. I think 99% of the work is done," Rubio said, adding that what remains is mainly the precise wording of the text. India's Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said last week that the first phase of the deal has been finalized and is undergoing legal drafting. Under a framework announced in February, the United States cut its reciprocal tariff on Indian goods from 25 percent to 18 percent and removed an additional 25 percent duty linked to India's purchases of Russian oil.
On tariffs tied to Russian oil purchases, Rubio said: "None of these tariffs are meant to punish or harm India." He said one reason President Trump waived the related tariffs was that he understood they would have a very detrimental impact on the important U.S.-India relationship.
Asked about U.S. visa restrictions, Rubio said the measures are not aimed at India. "We are trying to fix 20 years of neglect of an immigration system that was simply not being enforced. And that's not targeted at India," he said. He noted that certain visa categories draw large numbers of Indian applicants, which is why rule changes draw close attention in India.
On China, Rubio said: "A U.S.-China trade war would be devastating to the global economy. It would impact India," adding that Washington seeks strategic stability with Beijing. On Pakistan, he said America's relationship with no country in the world comes at the expense of its relationship with India.
During the Mumbai visit, Rubio met Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and joined a trilateral meeting with Jaishankar and UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan on regional energy security. He is also visiting the Reliance refinery in Jamnagar, Gujarat, to discuss using India's refining capacity to process Venezuelan heavy crude and diversifying global energy supplies. "I don't think we want to live in a world in which an overwhelming amount of the global energy comes from one part of the world that's prone to conflict," he said. It is Rubio's second trip to India this year; his October 17-22 tour also took him to Samarkand, Uzbekistan, for the C5+1 ministerial.
Asked about Elon Musk's allegation against the Ambani family over Starlink, Rubio said Musk owns important businesses but is a private citizen, so he could not speak to it.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 美国国务院官方照片（公共领域）
