'Important ally and partner': Rubio leaves for India amid Trump’s Russian oil tariff threat

US secretary of state Marco Rubio has departed for India amid a temporary pause in President Donald Trump’s tariff threat over Russian oil purchases, with energy cooperation, trade and strategic ties expected to dominate his October 20 visit.According to new agency ANI, Rubio departed from Joint Base Andrews late on Saturday (local time) for Uzbekistan and India. “Just departed for Uzbekistan and India to continue securing the Trump Administration's economic opportunities for our nation,” he said ahead of his departure.The visit comes after Trump paused key provisions of the Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, which could have imposed tariffs of up to 100 per cent on goods imported into the US from major buyers of Russian oil, including India and China.The 60-day pause is intended to give Washington time to assess the potential impact of the proposed measures on the global and US economies.Rubio defended the decision to reassess the proposed measures, saying India’s energy requirements and its strategic importance to Washington needed to be considered before imposing tariffs and sanctions.“These sanctions were not just sanctions on Russia. They include tariffs on a number of countries—India, for example, and others.

And so I think the president wants to take the 60-day period of time to sort of analyse what imposing both sanctions and tariffs will mean to the global economy and even to the US economy,” Rubio said.He acknowledged that India had diversified its energy sources but continued to rely substantially on Russian supplies, making an immediate shift difficult.

During his October 20 visit, Rubio is scheduled to meet External affairs minister S Jaishankar in Mumbai to strengthen the bilateral strategic partnership and discuss energy, trade, investment, defence and critical and emerging technologies.He is also expected to travel to Jamnagar in Gujarat on October 21 to meet Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani and other company officials at the refinery hub, as Washington seeks to expand energy cooperation and commercial ties with India.India’s ministry of external affairs said the visit would provide an opportunity to review bilateral relations and advance the Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership between the two countries.Before arriving in India, Rubio will attend the C5+1 ministerial meeting in Uzbekistan, focusing on strategic cooperation between the United States and Central Asian countries.