India and the US are “very close” to finalizing a bilateral trade deal, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said.
“We are very, very close,” Rubio told reporters in Mumbai on Tuesday, with US Ambassador to India, Sergio Gor, by his side. “I would say we are about as close as you can be without having executed the agreement.” The two countries have been negotiating the deal for months.
Although the US Supreme Court threw out the tariffs that President Donald Trump imposed on India, along with on other countries, New Delhi has held off signing the deal as it sought terms that gave it a competitive advantage in the US market.
However, Trump recently waived “bone crushing sanctions” on the buyers of Russian oil, including India – the prospects of which had worried policy planners in New Delhi – removing a potential major obstacle to the deal.
Rubio called India a very important partner, and said there will be some good news to announce very soon.
On Monday, while in Uzbekistan, Rubio showed that the Trump administration recognizes New Delhi’s arguments about buying Russian oil. India is the world’s third biggest crude importer and the second largest buyer of Russian oil.
“Every country has a complex set of factors that they have to take into account,” he told reporters. “Geography is real. For some countries, it’s very difficult to acquire energy from alternative sources.”
Rubio’s focus on his trip, the second this year to India, is oil. He is meeting Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani, who owns the world’s largest refinery complex at Jamnagar in Gujarat state, on Wednesday.
The Trump administration is trying to bring down fuel prices amid an affordability crisis that has hit the US and is threatening the prospects of the Republican Party in November’s midterm elections.
Tapping Reliance’s massive refining capacity and allowing its output to flow into the world markets is important for the administration’s push.
Calling India a “refining superpower,” Rubio said he will talk with Ambani about Reliance buying more Venezuelan oil. The Reliance refinery is configured to refine the heavy Venezuelan crude.
Rubio said “energy is a matter of national security as well,” justifying his focus on oil.
He is also meeting with Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in Mumbai.