News of Bahrain
Business28 October 20252 min read

Top US, India officials discuss ties as trade rift drags on

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with India's foreign minister yesterday, as the two countries push trade talks and ease tensions over Washington's punishing tariffs. Few details were released, but Rubio's meeting with Subr

Editorial Team Legacy

Published 28 October 2025, 8:00 · Updated 18:14

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Top US, India officials discuss ties as trade rift drags on

AFP | Kuala Lumpur

Email : editor@newsofbahrain.com

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with India’s foreign minister yesterday, as the two countries push trade talks and ease tensions over Washington’s punishing tariffs.

Few details were released, but Rubio’s meeting with Subrahmanyam Jaishankar is the highest-level contact since the United States imposed sanctions last week on Russian oil companies, a key source of India’s crude supplies.

Jaishankar posted a photograph on social media showing him smiling and shaking hands with Rubio, saying he “appreciated the discussion on our bilateral ties as well as regional and global issues”.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of a Southeast Asian summit in Malaysia, which US President Donald Trump attended in person and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed by video link.

Relations between Washington and New Delhi plummeted in August after Trump raised tariffs to 50 percent, with US officials accusing India of fuelling Russia’s war in Ukraine by buying Moscow’s discounted oil.

Trump, who spoke to Modi last week by telephone, has claimed that the Indian leader has agreed to cut Russian oil imports -- something New Delhi has not commented on.

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