US-Pakistan Relations Don’t Come at Expense of India, Rubio Says

Marco Rubio in Kuala Lumpur, Oct. 26. Photo by Andrew Harnik /Photographer: Andrew Harnik/Gett

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(Bloomberg) — The US is seeking to expand its strategic relationship with Pakistan but those ties don’t come at the expense of Washington’s relations with India, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.

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Just like India has ties with countries that the US doesn’t, the vice versa applies, Rubio told reporters on Saturday on board a flight to Doha. 

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“It’s part of a mature, pragmatic foreign policy,” he said. “I don’t think anything we’re doing with Pakistan comes at the expense of our relationship or friendship with India, which is deep, historic, and important.”

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The US’s pivot toward Pakistan under President Donald Trump has irked New Delhi and coincided with a fraying in ties between Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

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Pakistan and India, nuclear-armed neighbors with a contentious history, came close to a full-blown war in May. Trump said he used trade as a bargaining chip to secure a peace deal between the two sides, a claim rejected by India. Pakistan, instead, hailed Trump’s intervention and nominated him for a Nobel Peace Prize at the time.

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“Look, we’re fully aware of the challenges with regards to India and everything else, but our job is to try to create opportunities for partnerships with countries where it’s possible,” Rubio said. “And we’ve had a long history of partnering with Pakistan on counter-terror and things of that nature. We’d like to expand it beyond that, if possible.”

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Rubio said he had reached out to Pakistan even before the conflict with India began, saying the US was “interested in rebuilding an alliance, a strategic partnership,” he said.  

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Trump hit India with 50% tariffs on its exports to the US, far higher than Pakistan’s 19% rate. The US has also signed deals with Pakistan on mining of critical minerals and oil.

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Rubio arrived in Malaysia on Sunday to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit along with Trump. Modi skipped the Asean summit, missing out a possible meeting with the US president. 

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Trump on Sunday oversaw the signing of a peace agreement between Thailand and Cambodia, using the event to highlight his track record in mediating conflicts. He made reference to Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief Asim Munir as “great people.”

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Rubio is likely to meet India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on the sidelines of the Asean summit on Monday, giving the two officials an opportunity to discuss trade negotiations and India’s purchases of Russian oil.  

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Trump has demanded India halt its purchases of Russian energy, which he says is helping finance President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine. India is among the largest buyers of Russian crude, which makes up about a third of the nation’s total oil imports. The US’s move last week to sanction two major Russian oil suppliers has sent Indian buyers scrambling for alternate sources. 

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Rubio said New Delhi has already informed the US about its intention to diversify oil supplies and buy more energy from the US. 

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“The more we sell them, the less they’ll buy from someone else,” he said.

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