Trade deal 'very close' to finalisation: Rubio

New Delhi: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will have a brief meeting with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday before his bilateral meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday.

On Monday Rubio said that the India-US trade deal is close to being finalised. "We're trying to finalise a trade deal with India right now. We're very close to doing that," he said in Samarkand ahead of his India visit.

He also said that the US considered global energy needs before imposing sanctions linked to Russian oil exports. "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," he said.


"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," Rubio said.

During his stay in Mumbai on Tuesday-Wednesday Rubio is also expected to meet Chairman of the Adani Group Gautam Adani and Tata Son chief N Chandrasekaran.

The Tata Group has a major presence in the United States, operating across IT services, automotive, hospitality, chemicals, and consumer goods in over 20 states of the USA.

On Tuesday Jaishankar will join Rubio as the guest of honour at the Freedom 250 reception celebrating the United States' 250th anniversary at the Jio Convention Centre.

On October 21, Rubio will head to Jamnagar for his meeting with Ambani. He may also tour the Vantara.

His visit to Jamnagar includes a visit to Reliance Industries' oil refining complex which is the world's biggest refinery and is among the most advanced ones.

The Tuesday's meeting with Rubio will be his second bilateral meeting with Jaishankar in India this year, following a visit in May, with another meeting scheduled next month on the margins of the G20 foreign ministers' meeting in Atlanta. They also met on the sidelines of UNGA and earlier on the sidelines of India-ASEAN meet.