- US Secretary Rubio stated India-US trade deal nears finalisation.
- Rubio expressed optimism for soon announcing and signing agreement.
- India’s capacity to process Venezuelan oil faces sanction hurdles.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the India-US trade agreement is close to finalisation, with only a few issues left to resolve. Speaking during his visit to India, Rubio expressed optimism that the deal would be concluded soon, followed by its signing.
“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,” Rubio said.
He described the two sides as being “about as close as you can be without having executed the agreement”, adding that only a small number of items remained to be wrapped up.
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‘Hoping To Have Good News Soon’
Rubio said the remaining issues could be resolved shortly and expressed hope that the two countries would soon have an announcement to make.
#WATCH | Mumbai, Maharashtra: On his India visit, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says, “… 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’re very, very close. I would say we’re about as close as you can be without having executed the agreement. I think there’s a small number of items left to wrap up, so I think that will happen shortly. We’re hoping, which it should, and hopefully have some good news to announce soon and sign it thereafter. So, we’re very optimistic that we will have something in place here very soon.”
— ANI (@ANI) October 20, 2026
“We’re hoping, which it should, and hopefully have some good news to announce soon and sign it thereafter,” he said.
The US Secretary of State added that Washington was “very optimistic” that an agreement would be in place soon.
‘India Is A Refining Superpower’: Rubio
Rubio has described India as a “refining superpower”, saying its capacity to process heavy crude oil could help as more Venezuelan oil enters the global market.
Speaking to the media at the Taj Memorial in Mumbai on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, Rubio said India had the capability to refine heavy crude and had done so in the past. He also noted that India already holds oil concessions in Venezuela, which could enable it to increase production.
“These are all positive things,” Rubio said, adding that Venezuelan oil could help ease global supply shortages over time and provide some relief in the short term.
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However, he cautioned that Venezuela alone might not be able to compensate for all the shortfalls arising from global circumstances. Rubio said the US had discussed the issue with India previously and that New Delhi appeared willing to help.
“There may be some hurdles because of sanctions and other reasons that we will have to work through,” he said.
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