Washington: The US-India trade deal is "very close" to finalisation, said Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday, suggesting that the waiver from tariffs for buying Russian oil was linked to the decision.
"We're trying to finalise the 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 told reporters in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
Rubio is set to travel to India and meet External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar in Mumbai to discuss issues ranging from energy, trade, defence, critical and emerging technologies and other key areas of bilateral cooperation.
Rubio appeared to acknowledge the reasons for India to continue buying oil from Russia, an issue that has been the focus of talks between him and Jaishankar since the US passed the Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act in September.
"You also can't unravel the economy of other countries because of one central issue. So that's the complex part of having to balance all of this,” Rubio said.
He said every country has a complex set of factors that they have to take into account, such as geography, and 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 you make foreign policy. The foreign policy of the US, of course, takes into account what's happening with the war between Russia and Ukraine, but it is not solely dominated by that,” Rubio said.
“It has to take into account a variety of other factors, including our bilateral relationships with other countries and what they realistically are capable of being able to do in terms of their own energy supplies,” he said.
Earlier, a day after US President Donald Trump waived several sanctions related to Russian fuel sales that were to take effect under the Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, Rubio described India as an important ally whose energy needs must be considered before putting any tariffs or sanctions in place.
The law, which has now been paused, would have imposed tariffs of up to 100 per cent on goods brought into the US from the five largest importers of Russian crude oil or gas which includes India and China.
"These sanctions were not just sanctions on Russia. They include tariffs on a number of countries—India, for example, and others. And so I think the president wants to take the 60-day period of time to sort of analyse what imposing both sanctions and tariffs will mean to the global economy and even to the US economy," Rubio said.
"You've got countries like India, for example, that have voluntarily diversified their energy portfolio, but are still getting a substantial amount of energy from Russia because it's hard to pivot from one day to the next. But they're also an important ally and partner of the United States. So we need that period of time to sort of study all this and figure out what the right combination is," he added.
Jaishankar is understood to have conveyed to Rubio that oil refineries in India were configured largely for handling medium sour crude, which is supplied by West Asian countries and Russia.
He also told Rubio that Venezuela supplies heavier-grade crude and the US has light-grade crude, which would require blending before being used by refineries in India.
With oil supplies from West Asian countries hit due to the Iran war, India has to depend on Russian crude to keep its economy running.
(With inputs from PTI & ANI)