Marco Rubio says India-US trade agreement is nearing finalisation
US trade delegation to visit India soon for bilateral trade talks
India-US discussions covered visas, defence, energy and Strait of Hormuz tensions
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday that a bilateral trade agreement between Washington and New Delhi was within reach, describing the emerging deal as one that would be "enduring, beneficial and sustainable" for both sides.
Rubio further confirmed that a US trade delegation would travel to India "very soon" to advance negotiations on the proposed deal.
1 May 2026
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The remarks came after Rubio held talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar covering trade, energy, critical minerals, defence, visa issues and the situation in West Asia.
Rubio's visit, his first to India as secretary of state, is widely seen as an effort to repair ties that came under strain over the past year following Washington's sweeping tariff actions. He justified the trade friction as part of a broader global rebalancing rather than a policy aimed at India.
"The President did not say: 'Let's figure out a way to create friction with India over trade'," Rubio said at a joint media briefing in New Delhi. "He came in and said we have a trade situation involving the US economy that doesn't work moving forward." He added that virtually every country he had visited had raised the trade issue, and that the goal was to arrive at arrangements that worked for the US and its partners alike.
Jaishankar said the two sides discussed efforts to conclude a bilateral trade deal at an early date, alongside visa-related challenges faced by Indian workers in the US — an issue that has grown in salience amid the recent wave of tech sector layoffs affecting H-1B holders.
West Asia and More
Beyond trade, the Strait of Hormuzhttps://www.outlookbusiness.com/industry/strait-hormuz-disruption-clean-energy-transition-energy-security featured prominently in the discussions. Rubio said meaningful progress had been made in the preceding 48 hours on an outline that could help stabilise the situation around the waterway, and suggested there was a possibility of "good news" within hours.
He reiterated that Iran could not be permitted to acquire a nuclear weapon and called attacks on commercial vessels "totally illegal."
Rubio met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday to discuss trade and energy, and extended an invitation from President Donald Trump for Modi to visit the White House in the near future.
