India-US Trade Deal Nears Completion

During his visit to India, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said a bilateral trade agreement was close, with a small number of technical issues remaining; President Donald Trump also described the deal as near completion. Rubio and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar discussed cooperation in energy, defence, technology and people-to-people ties, as well as regional issues. Rubio said Washington was discussing with Reliance Industries the possibility of refining more Venezuelan crude at its Jamnagar facility to diversify supplies and ease pressure on energy markets. The talks took place amid friction over India’s purchases of Russian oil and U.S. trade measures, with Rubio acknowledging the need to balance pressure on Russia against its effects on other countries.