Business EconomyPosted at: Oct 19 2026 2:57PM


India, US close to finalising a trade agreement: US Secretary Marco Rubio

New Delhi, Oct 19 (UNI) US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that India and the United States are close to finalising a trade agreement, ahead of his visit to India on October 20.
Rubio's remarks come amid ongoing efforts by New Delhi and Washington to strengthen bilateral trade and economic ties.
"We're trying to finalise a trade deal with India right now. We're very close to doing that," Rubio said.
"President makes a decision about national security waivers and things of that nature. Every country has a complex set of factors that it has to take into account. Geography is real. For some countries, it's very difficult to acquire energy from alternative sources. That's not an excuse, but all of that has to be balanced when making foreign policy," he added.
Rubio is currently in Uzbekistan and is scheduled to visit India on October 20, where he will meet External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. His visit comes amid ongoing trade negotiations between New Delhi and Washington.
Last week, union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had expressed optimism that the India-US trade agreement would be concluded soon, saying an early resolution would benefit bothe the countries and global trade.
She said negotiations between the two countries is underway and expressed hope that both sides would reach an agreement at the earliest.
“I hope, in the interest of global trade and in the interest of trade between the two partners, India and US, the trade agreement gets concluded at the earliest,” she said.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal had also said that the first tranche of the proposed India-US bilateral trade agreement has been finalised and is undergoing legal drafting, expressing hope that it would be operationalised soon.
“The US bilateral trade agreement’s first tranche has been finalized and is going through final contours, the legal drafting. We hope to be able to finalise and operationalise that soon, once we get the competitive advantage over our peer countries,” Goyal had said.
India and the United States have been negotiating a bilateral trade agreement since February 2025, seeking to expand market access, reduce trade barriers and strengthen economic ties.
The negotiations have gained urgency following a period of trade tensions triggered by US tariffs on Indian goods and disagreements over market access and India's purchase of Russian oil.
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Tags: #India# US close to finalising a trade agreement: US Secretary Marco Rubio
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see more..