Ahead of his meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Kuala Lumpur Monday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has described US-India relations as “deep, historic and important” and underlined that his country’s ties with Pakistan do not come at the expense of its “relationship” and “friendship” with India.
This outreach comes at a time when ties between Delhi and Washington have been strained over the Trump administration’s 50 per cent tariffs on India, a closer engagement between US President Donald Trump and Pakistan’s leadership including its Army chief, and Trump’s repeated claims about brokering a ceasefire between India and Pakistan in May this year.
Rubio made these remarks on his way to Kuala Lumpur where leaders have gathered for the ASEAN and East Asia summits. Also Sunday, Trump again claimed that India is going to stop buying oil from Russia, that India is cutting back Russian oil purchases “completely” while China will cut back “very substantially.”
Responding to questions on India’s concerns about US-Pakistan ties, Rubio said, “They really haven’t (raised concerns). I mean, we know they are concerned for obvious reasons because of the tensions that have existed between Pakistan and India historically.
But, I think they have to understand we have to have relations with a lot of different countries. We see an opportunity to expand our strategic relationship with Pakistan, and I think we have… to try to figure out how many countries we can find, how we can work with on things of common interest.”
“I think the Indians are very mature when it comes to diplomacy and things of that nature. Look, they have some relationships with countries that we don’t have relationships with. So, it’s part of a mature, pragmatic foreign policy. I don’t think anything we are doing with Pakistan comes at the expense of our relationship or friendship with India, which is deep, historic and important,” he said.
Asked about the US role in the pause in the India-Pakistan military confrontation – Delhi has rejected Washington’s claims – Rubio said, “No, I think they appreciated.
Anytime you work with someone, you get to know them and you interact with them, and so I do think there was some sense of happiness about it. But even before that conflict had started, I had already reached out to them and said look, we are interested in rebuilding an alliance, a strategic partnership with you. We think there are things we can work together with them on.”
“Look, we are fully aware of the challenges with regards to India and everything else, but our job is to try to create opportunities for partnerships with countries where it’s possible. And we have had a long history of partnering with Pakistan on counter-terror and things of that nature.
We would like to expand it beyond that, if possible, understanding that there will be some difficulties and some challenges. But I think it’s a very encouraging thing that the relationship has strengthened the way it has, and I don’t think it comes at the expense or instead of a good relationship with India, or anybody else for that matter,” he said.
Asked about the sanctions on Russian companies, he said, “We are still talking. I mean, we have got broader trade issues that we are working on as well, so – but they will always be our allies and friends.”
Meanwhile, Trump, speaking to reporters on Air Force One on his way to Kuala Lumpur, said “India is cutting back” Russian oil purchases “completely.”
Responding to a question about raising the issue of Russian oil with Chinese President Xi Jinping during their meeting, Trump said he might discuss it.
“I may be discussing it, but you know China, you probably saw it today. China is cutting back very substantially on the purchase of Russian oil,” Trump said.
He is set to meet Xi on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in South Korea.
