US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the United States is nearing the completion of a trade agreement with India. Rubio’s comments came during his visit to Samarkand, Uzbekistan, where he emphasized the importance of the ongoing negotiations, particularly in the context of national security waivers related to sanctions on Russian energy.

Rubio explained that the US decision to temporarily waive some sanctions against Russian energy is influenced by high global energy prices and the challenges countries face in switching to alternative energy suppliers. He acknowledged that geographical constraints make it difficult for nations, such as India, which remains a significant buyer of Russian energy, to rapidly diversify their energy imports.

While affirming the temporary nature of the sanction waivers, Rubio noted that these provisions could be enforced in the future if necessary. He is scheduled to visit India to discuss the trade agreement further with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in Mumbai.

In a related development, India’s Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal confirmed that the first tranche of the India-US bilateral trade agreement has been finalized and is currently undergoing legal drafting. Both nations are working towards completing the process to operationalize the agreement.