We're going to wind up with a trade agreement: Marco Rubio signals much-awaited US-India deal

The US Secretary of State's maiden trip to India is largely seen as an attempt to repair bilateral relations that came under severe strain in the last one year over Washington's trade and tariff policies.

India and the US could soon sign the much-awaited trade agreement that is "beneficial" and "sustainable" and will advance the mutual interests of both nations, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday.

He added that the overall bilateral ties, that had soured following the imposition of tariffs last year, were on an upward trajectory.

Rubio's remakrs came after holding talks on a wide range of issues with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar that focused on boosting two-way cooperation in areas of trade, critical minerals, energy and defence.

The Republican leader's first trip to India is being seen as an attempt to repair bilateral relations.

"We've made tremendous progress, and I think we're going to wind up with a trade agreement between the US and India that is going to be enduring and is going to be beneficial to both sides and sustainable in a way that addresses national interests that we have," Rubio said at a joint media briefing with Jaishankar.

Further, Rubio said that the Trump administration's trade policy had a greater aim to recalibrate Washington's overall approach to global trade and it is not directed against any specific country.

"This is about the United States in terms of trade. The President did not say: 'Let's figure out a way to create friction with India over trade'. The President came in and said: 'We have a trade situation involving the US economy that doesn't work moving forward'," he said.

"There's a huge imbalance that's built up, and it needs to be addressed. He pursued it from a global perspective," Rubio added.

He said that there was virtually no country in the world that he had travelled to which had not flagged the trade issue.

"The President said we have to rebalance US trade. This is not about India. The good news is that through this rebalancing, we are ultimately seeking and believe we will arrive at trade arrangements around the world that are good for the United States, but also good for our trade partners," he said.

"And one of those we hope will be India. In fact, we are on the verge of making that happen. We are hopeful that our trade representative can visit here very soon," he added.

Rubio also poke on the US having problems regarding trade even with its all allies, including the European Union.

"The difference is that India is a massive economy. This is a big economy where you're the leading trade partner. We do a lot of trade with India, and so obviously, there's a big difference between rebalancing trade with a country of this size and magnitude," he said.

Rubio said the India-US relationship "continues to be strong and in fact, I believe by the end of this administration, it will be stronger than it has ever been. That's certainly our goal."

The US Secretary of State also made a mention of India joining the US-backed 'Pax Silica' initiative.

The Pax Silica initiative was launched in December to build a secure, resilient, and innovation-driven supply chain for critical minerals and artificial intelligence (AI).

The Pax Silica Summit was held in Washington on December 12, where partner nations signed the Pax Silica declaration, while India joined the initiative in February.

On US' improving ties with China and Pakistan, Rubio said Washington does not view its engagement with other countries at the expense of its strategic alliance with India.

"As far as our relations with other countries, we have relations, and we work at the tactical level, for example, and in many other ways with countries all over the world, so does India. That's what responsible nation states do," he said.

"But I don't view our relation with any country in the world as coming at the expense of our strategic alliance with India for the reasons I've outlined here already earlier today," he said.