EAM, Rubio hold phone talks on trade, defence ties

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday held a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, focusing on cooperation in areas of trade, critical minerals, nuclear energy and defence.

The Jaishankar-Rubio phone call came a day after newly-appointed US ambassador Sergio Gor said there would be some contact between the two sides on the trade issue.

The External Affairs Minister said he had a “good conversation” with Rubio and that they agreed to remain in touch. He said that they have discussed trade, critical minerals, nuclear cooperation, defence and energy and agreed to remain in touch on these and other issues. The India-US ties witnessed a major downturn after President Donald Trump slapped a whopping 50% tariffs on Indian goods, including a 25% punitive levy over Russian oil purchases. Both sides have held multiple rounds of negotiations last year to firm up a bilateral trade deal.

However, it could not be sealed yet largely in view of Washington’s demands to open up India’s farm and dairy sectors.

In an address at the US embassy on Monday, Gor said India and the U.S. were actively engaged on the proposed trade deal. “Both sides continue to actively engage. In fact, the next call on trade will occur tomorrow,” he said. In his remarks, Gor also said that no country was as essential as India to the United States.