‘Very close’ to trade deal with India, says Marco Rubio ahead of his Mumbai arrival on Tuesday

New Delhi: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives in Mumbai on Tuesday for talks with India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, as Washington says a trade deal is “very close”. Rubio, on his second visit to India this year, is scheduled to land in the financial capital on Tuesday at around 2 pm. He is expected to meet External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar at 3.30 pm IST.

Later in the week, he will travel to Jamnagar in Gujarat, home to a private sector crude oil refining complex.

Speaking in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, before flying on to India, Rubio linked the sanctions waiver and the trade talks. “We’re trying to finalise a trade deal with India right now. We’re very close to doing that,” he said. “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.”

He added that Washington had waived sanctions in recent months “because of looking at the global supplies, looking at global prices, the impact that was having on other countries.”

Rubio noted high diesel prices in many places and said foreign policy must balance the war in Ukraine with other realities. “Every country has a complex set of factors that they have 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 that has to be balanced… You also can’t unravel the economy of other countries because of one central issue,” he said.

The waiver relates to the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, which President Donald Trump signed on 18 September. The law authorised tariffs of up to 100% on goods from the five largest importers of Russian oil and gas, a list that includes India and China, if they continued new purchases after 18 October.

Trump has paused the key provisions for 60 days while the administration studies the economic consequences. That review is expected to conclude around 15 December, when world leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, are due in Florida for the G20 summit.

The visit comes against a backdrop of strained bilateral ties. Immigration and visa issues, along with rising anti-India rhetoric in the United States, remain points of concern for New Delhi. Last week Indian side expressed serious concern after US authorities foiled an alleged plot by a 19-year-old to attack a Hindu temple near Chicago. India has called on Washington to ensure the safety of the Indian community.

US officials have described the trip as more business-focused than Rubio’s earlier visit in May, when he attended a Quad foreign ministers’ meeting in New Delhi. This time he is skipping the capital, New Delhi. Energy cooperation, including India’s continued substantial imports of Russian crude and its efforts to diversify supplies, is expected to feature prominently alongside the status of the trade negotiations.