India-US ties remain critical, hope to fix tariffs, says Rubio

America hopes to resolve the punitive 25% tariff imposed on India over its Russian oil purchases, US secretary of state Marco Rubio said ina television interview on Tuesday.

- Shashank Mattoo

“We had meetings with them again yesterday, and it has to do with their purchase of Russian oil,” Rubio said in an interview on ABC News’ “Good Morning America” program, citing “a lot of progress.”

However, Rubio also called on European nations to join tougher secondary sanctions on Moscow—a move that could involve targeting India.

‘The remarks came a day after Rubio's first face-to-face meeting with external affairs minister S Jaishankar since India-US tensions escalated in July, with the secretary of state stressing that ties with India remain “critically important” to America.