Rubio: India-US Trade Deal Weeks Away, Visa Curbs Not Targeted at Indiaਰੂਬੀਓ: ਭਾਰਤ-ਅਮਰੀਕਾ ਵਪਾਰ ਸਮਝੌਤਾ ਹਫ਼ਤਿਆਂ ਵਿੱਚ, ਵੀਜ਼ਾ ਪਾਬੰਦੀਆਂ ਭਾਰਤ ਨੂੰ ਨਿਸ਼ਾਨਾ ਨਹੀਂ

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the India-US trade deal is weeks away from being finalised, that American visa curbs are not targeted at India, and that US tariffs are not meant to punish New Delhi. Rubio made the remarks in an interview with The Indian Express during a visit to India on 20 and 21 October, his second trip to the country in under five months.

Rubio is in India at the invitation of External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, NDTV reported. His comments speak directly to two anxieties that run through the Punjabi diaspora in the United States and Canada: whether work and student visas are being closed to Indians, and whether tariffs will keep hurting trade between the two countries.

Trade deal: weeks, not months away

On the trade agreement, Rubio said: "We are weeks, not months away from, I think, finalizing it. I think 99 percent of the work is done." What remains, he said, is language: both sides have to agree that the words in the text mean the same thing to each of them. In separate remarks reported by ANI and carried by The Hindu BusinessLine, he called the deal "incredibly close" and said it was down to technical details.

He cautioned that a deal of this size cannot be announced before every detail is settled, because announcing an agreement that later turned out not to be final would itself damage the relationship. He described the bilateral relationship as positive and a feature of American foreign policy, even though trade has been an irritant.

Visa curbs: not targeted at India

Asked about tighter US immigration rules, Rubio said Washington is fixing what the administration sees as 20 years of neglect of an immigration system that was not being enforced. "From your perspective here in India, it may seem targeted at India, but it's not," he said. "The biggest threat to legal immigration is illegal immigration. The biggest threat to legal immigration is mass migration," he added, saying mass migration was not an Indian phenomenon.

Rubio said the United States still wants people to visit, study, work for a time and invest in the country, provided they come through a system of laws that is complied with. He acknowledged the changes look bigger in India because of the depth of economic and people-to-people ties and the large number of Indians applying in certain visa categories.

Tariffs, Russian oil and Pakistan

On tariffs, Rubio said the steep US duties on India are tied to the Russia-Ukraine war and are meant to pressure Moscow, not to punish or harm India. One reason the Russian oil tariff was waived, he said, is that imposing it would have had a very detrimental impact on an important relationship. His visit to the Jamnagar refinery in Gujarat sits inside that energy discussion: India is one of the few places that can refine Venezuelan heavy crude, a possible alternative source.

On Pakistan, he said the US relationship with no country in the world comes at the expense of its relationship with India. On China, he warned that a US-China trade war would be devastating for the global economy and would impact India as well.

What did Marco Rubio say about the India-US trade deal?

He said the deal is weeks, not months away, with 99 percent of the work done and only wording and technical details left to settle.

Are US visa curbs targeted at India?

Rubio said they are not. He said the changes are a global overhaul of an immigration system the administration believes was neglected for 20 years.

Why was the Russian oil tariff on India waived?

Rubio said one reason was that imposing it would have had a very detrimental impact on the India relationship, and that the duties are meant to pressure Russia, not punish India.