'Very, very close, some items left': Marco Rubio on India-US trade deal

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday said that India and the US are “very, very close” to finalising a trade agreement. Currently on his second official India visit, Rubio sounded hopeful of a deal being finalised soon."The State Department doesn't negotiate trade agreements, but we are very much involved in what's happening...We're very, very close. I would say we're about as close as you can be without having executed the agreement.

I think there's a small number of items left to wrap up, so I think that will happen shortly," Rubio said. Follow live updates on Marco Rubio's visit here.The Trump official said that he hopes there is a good news to announce soon. “So, we're very optimistic that we will have something in place here very soon,” he said. US relaxes sanctions on RussiaRubio's remarks came days after the US waived some sanctions on Russia just as they were set to take effect.

Prior to that, US President Donald Trump had announced a diesel deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to import Russian energy, seeking to cushion the impact of soaring fuel prices in the US.Both moves marked a significant departure from the Trump administration’s earlier hardline stance on Russian energy imports and countries purchasing Russian oil.The sanctions that were waived off by the US also targeted India, China and three other countries.

If imposed, the sanctions would have imposed tariffs of up to 100 per cent these countries. The US has earlier criticised India's purchase of Russian oil and had even attributed it as the reason for imposing 50% tariffs on Indian imports last year. However, the duties were later taken down to 18% as trade talks between both sides progressed.Rubio said on Monday that finalising a trade deal with India was one of the things taken into consideration when making decisions on national security waivers.Rubio on India's Russian oil purchaseDuring his Mumbai visit, Marco Rubio was also asked about India's Russian oil purchase.

As opposed to the Trump administration's earlier stand, the US Secretary of State said that diversifying energy sources was “smart thing to do”. “I think what India has expressed repeatedly is its desire to diversify its energy portfolio, which is a smart thing to do. It's not easy to do that from one day to the next. I think they've made some substantial progress in that regard, and we're happy to see that,” he said.

Marco Rubio also met external affairs minister S Jaishankar to discuss regional energy security.