Rubio says India-US trade deal 'very, very close' after Mumbai talks with Jaishankar

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that India and the United States are "very, very close" to concluding a trade agreement, after holding talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Mumbai on the first day of his two-day visit.

Rubio told reporters that only a small number of items were left to settle and that he expected them to be wrapped up shortly. No date for signing was announced, and the agreement had not been signed as of Tuesday night, according to the Associated Press. India's foreign ministry said the discussions covered energy, trade, investment and defence.

A long road to a deal

Negotiations between the two countries have dragged on for months. Washington imposed tariffs of up to 50 per cent on most Indian goods in August 2025, partly over New Delhi's purchases of discounted Russian crude. A framework agreed in February 2026 brought the rate down to 18 per cent, but talks then slowed. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said last week that the first tranche of the deal was in its final stages, and India has argued that its eventual tariff rate should be comparable to those of rival manufacturing economies such as Vietnam.

The visit comes days after President Donald Trump waived sanctions provisions of a US law that would have allowed steep tariffs on the biggest buyers of Russian oil, a group in which India ranks second after China. Reuters reported Rubio as saying the trade talks were a factor in that decision. Asked about India's continued Russian oil imports, he said every country had "a complex set of factors" to weigh.

Venezuelan crude and Jamnagar

Rubio is scheduled to travel to Jamnagar in Gujarat on Wednesday to visit the refining complex run by Reliance Industries and meet business leaders, including Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani. He said he would encourage the company to refine more Venezuelan crude, noting that it had done so before and could do more as Venezuelan output rises. He added that the possibility of Reliance producing oil inside Venezuela would also be discussed.

Reliance's two Jamnagar refineries can process about 1.4 million barrels a day, including very heavy grades such as those produced in Venezuela, Reuters reported. Venezuela's production has been climbing since January, when the Trump administration captured former leader Nicolas Maduro.

Why it matters for India

A finished trade deal would give Indian exporters more certainty on US tariffs after more than a year of disruption. With India importing more than 85 per cent of its crude needs and oil prices elevated by the conflict in West Asia, access to alternative supplies such as Venezuelan oil is also of direct interest to Indian refiners and consumers.