Kuala Lumpur: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Kuala Lumpur Monday as both countries work to reset bilateral relations strained by recent American punitive tariffs on Indian goods.
Jaishankar and Rubio met in Kuala Lumpur on the sidelines of the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
“Glad to meet @SecRubio this morning in Kuala Lumpur. Appreciated the discussion on our bilateral ties as well as regional and global issues,” the external affairs minister said on social media.
The relations between New Delhi and Washington have been reeling under severe strain after Trump imposed 50 per cent tariffs on India, including an additional 25 per cent levies for its procurement of Russian crude oil.
India described the US action as “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable”.
It is understood that Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Rubio also broadly delved into the proposed trade pact between the two sides.
However, there was no indication that the US side assured India of removing the 25 per cent tariff slapped for its energy ties with Russia.
In the last couple of weeks, US President Donald Trump claimed Prime Minister Narendra Modi told him that India will stop buying Russian crude oil. Following Trump’s first claim, India suggested that there was no such conversation.
The Ministry of External Affairs said October 16 that energy sourcing is being broad-based and diversified, including an expansion in procurement from the US.
It said India’s energy purchases are guided solely by the objective of safeguarding the interests of the Indian consumer in a volatile energy scenario, and the twin goals of India’s energy policy are ensuring stable energy prices and secured supplies.
Last week, the US president dialled Modi and extended Diwali greetings.
Saturday, Rubio said New Delhi has already expressed an interest in diversifying its oil portfolio.
“If they diversified their portfolio, the more they buy it from us, the more they’ll buy it from someone else. But I wouldn’t prejudge or — I’m not negotiating trade deals. So I’m not going to speak on that,” he said.
“But I know they’ve (India) already expressed a desire to diversify their oil portfolio, even before all of this came up. So, obviously the more we sell them, the less they’ll buy from someone else. And, but, we’ll see where we wind up on all that,” he said.
Last week, the US sanctioned two Russian oil exporters, Rosneft and Lukoil, a move that is expected to discourage Indian refiners to procure Russian crude oil.
