- US nearing India trade deal, considering national security waivers.
- India cannot shift from Russian energy overnight, Rubio stated.
- India-US trade agreement’s first tranche finalized, awaiting drafting.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday said Washington was “very close” to finalising a trade deal with India, adding that the negotiations were among the factors considered when the US President decides on national security waivers.
His remarks came days after US President Donald Trump waived certain sanctions related to Russian energy purchases, offering temporary relief to India and four other countries that could have been affected by the measures.
Speaking to reporters in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Rubio said the US was working to conclude the trade agreement with India and that the progress of the negotiations was taken into account when considering national security waivers.
“We’re trying to finalize a trade deal with India right now. We’re very close to doing that. So that’s one of the things we take into consideration when the President makes a decision about national security waivers and things of that nature,” Rubio said.
#WATCH | United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio says, “…We’re trying to finalise a trade deal with India right now. We’re very close to doing that.” On Russian oil and gas, United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, “We’ve had to waive sanctions over the past few months because of the impact on global supplies and prices…We have to manage all of these things. We’re trying to finalise a trade deal with India right now. We’re very close to doing that. That’s one of the things we take into consideration when the President makes a decision about national security waivers and things of that nature. 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. That’s not an excuse, but all of that has to be balanced when making foreign policy…” (Source: US Network Pool via Reuters)
— ANI (@ANI) October 19, 2026
Rubio Says India Cannot Shift From Russian Energy Overnight
Rubio’s remarks came a day after he acknowledged that India had diversified its energy imports but could not immediately move away from Russian supplies.
He had said that India was still sourcing a substantial amount of energy from Russia because it was difficult to “pivot from one day to the next”.
India-US Trade Deal: First Tranche Finalised
Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said last week that the first tranche of the India-US bilateral trade agreement had been finalised and was undergoing legal drafting.
“The US bilateral trade agreement’s first tranche has been finalised. It’s going through the final contours, the legal drafting, and we hope to be able to finalize that soon and operationalise it once we get a comparable or competitive advantage over our peer countries,” Goyal said.
Rubio is scheduled to travel to India on Tuesday , October 20 and will meet External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Mumbai. He will leave India on October 22.
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