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Rubio defends US ties with Pakistan, says they don't come at India's expense, and calls trade deal close
Rubio told Indian media the US 'has to have a relationship' with nuclear-armed Pakistan, but that no US tie comes at India's expense. A former foreign secretary called his Iran comparison 'unfortunate'. He also dismissed UN experts' criticism of India's handling of protests.
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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio used his India visit to defend Washington's ties with Pakistan, telling Indian media that the United States must keep a relationship with a nuclear-armed country even when it disagrees with its policies. "In the case of Pakistan, it's a country that we have to have a relationship with," he said. He added that no American relationship comes at India's expense, and that the trade deal with India is close.
Rubio spoke in Mumbai on Tuesday, 20 October, in an interview with a news channel, and gave a separate interview to a national newspaper. Asked by the channel whether his position had changed since his time as a senator, when he argued for measures against Pakistan over terrorism, he replied: "We are against terrorism anywhere in the world." As Secretary of State, he said, he has to manage relations with countries whose policies Washington does not share. Pakistan, he said, has nuclear weapons, and if American influence can help stop steps towards conflict, that is a good thing.
In the newspaper interview he rejected the idea that closer US ties with Pakistan could damage the partnership with India. "Our relationship with no country in the world at any way comes at the expense of our relationship with India," he said. He called India the world's most populous country, its oldest democracy and a strong strategic partner, and said American leaders visit too rarely. He rejected a comparison with the 1970s, saying "the world today is completely different". He also compared the American engagement with Pakistan to India's own dealings with Iran, saying countries keep ties that serve their foreign policy interests.
A former diplomat objects
The comparison drew a sharp response from Kanwal Sibal, a former foreign secretary, who called it "unfortunate" on social media. Iran, he said, is not a major non-NATO ally of the United States, and India had not armed Iran to keep a balance in the region. He noted that the US supplied Pakistan with F-16 aircraft and AMRAAM missiles, allowed it to become a nuclear power, and took no step against it comparable to its sanctions on Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism. Pakistani defence expert Zahid Mahmood said Pakistan "can neither be ignored, intimidated nor isolated". Since Operation Sindoor the Trump administration has shown more confidence in Pakistan's leadership, particularly Field Marshal Asim Munir.
Rubio said negotiations on the bilateral trade agreement are nearing completion, with the remaining differences mostly over the precise wording. One analyst quoted him as describing the deal as about 99 per cent complete and possibly ready in weeks. On American tariffs linked to India's purchases of Russian oil, he said they are part of a broader foreign policy aimed at ending the war in Ukraine and are not an attempt to punish India. Congress-passed law requires announcing such tariffs, he said, but Trump has not applied them because of the potential harm to India ties. Last Friday Trump temporarily postponed sanctions that could have led to tariffs of up to 100 per cent on India and four other countries over Russian oil and gas.
Protests and UN experts
On Wednesday at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai, Rubio was asked about the protests in India. He said they reflect "differences of opinion", that "this is a democracy" with elections, and that he would not "opine on their domestic political matters". "That's for the Indian people to decide and navigate," he said, contrasting India with Cuba, where "there is no opposition". Asked about the criticism by UN human rights experts of India's crackdown on dissent, he dismissed them as an "oxymoron". The Trump administration has withdrawn from the UN Human Rights Council and has not paid its dues to the world body.
In Mumbai he met Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani and Tata Sons chairman N. Chandrasekaran, and both meetings were closed to the press. The meeting with Adani was the first between him and a senior Trump cabinet official since a US federal judge dismissed the criminal case against him in August, after the Justice Department dropped the charges. Rubio then flew to Jamnagar in Gujarat, where he visited the Reliance refinery.
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