External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday held talks with his American counterpart Marco Rubio amid efforts by the two sides to reset bilateral ties that have come under severe strain over punitive US tariffs on Indian goods. Jaishankar and Rubio met in Kuala Lumpur on the sidelines of the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). “Glad to meet @SecRubio this morning in Kuala Lumpur. Appreciated the discussion on our bilateral ties as well as regional and global issues,” the external affairs minister said on social media. The relations between New Delhi and Washington have been reeling under severe strain after Trump imposed 50 per cent tariffs on India, including an additional 25 per cent levies for its procurement of Russian crude oil.
India described the US action as “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable”. It is understood that Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Rubio also broadly delved into the proposed trade pact between the two sides. However, there was no indication that the US side assured India of removing the 25 per cent tariff slapped for its energy ties with Russia.
In the last couple of weeks, US President Donald Trump claimed Prime Minister Narendra Modi told him that India will stop buying Russian crude oil. Following Trump’s first claim, India suggested that there was no such conversation. The Ministry of External Affairs said on October 16 that energy sourcing is being broad-based and diversified, including an expansion in procurement from the US.
It said India’s energy purchases are guided solely by the objective of safeguarding the interests of the Indian consumer in a volatile energy scenario, and the twin goals of India’s energy policy are ensuring stable energy prices and secured supplies. Last week, the US president dialled Modi and extended Diwali greetings.
On Saturday, Rubio said New Delhi has already expressed an interest in diversifying its oil portfolio. “If they diversified their portfolio, the more they buy it from us, the more they’ll buy it from someone else. But I wouldn’t prejudge or — I’m not negotiating trade deals. So I’m not going to speak on that,” he said.
“But I know they’ve (India) already expressed a desire to diversify their oil portfolio, even before all of this came up. So, obviously the more we sell them, the less they’ll buy from someone else. And, but, we’ll see where we wind up on all that,” he said. Last week, the US sanctioned two Russian oil exporters, Rosneft and Lukoil, a move that is expected to discourage Indian refiners to procure Russian crude oil.
Jaishankar meets NZ PM Luxon External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday held separate meetings with New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Haji Hasan here, discussing bilateral relations and regional issues. The meetings took place on the sidelines of the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), for which Jaishankar is in Kuala Lumpur.
During his meeting with Luxon, the external affairs minister extended “warm greetings” from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “Welcome his (Luxon’s) commitment to advance our bilateral cooperation and nurture a free and open Indo-Pacific,” he said in a post on X. Jaishankar described his meeting with his Malaysian counterpart Hasan as “warm” and said the two foreign ministers discussed the “progress in our bilateral cooperation”. They also exchanged views on the Myanmar situation, he said in a separate post on X. Jaishankar said he also conveyed to Hasan “best wishes for successful ASEAN and East Asia Summits. On Sunday, he held talks with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
PM Anwar calls for dialogue
Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim told the East Asia summit on Monday that Asia-Pacific leaders must choose dialogue over coercion and cooperation over confrontation, stressing the need for engagement in light of global conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine, North Korea and the sharpened US–China rivalry. The East Asia summit is a regional forum between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its key regional partners — Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia and the United States — to discuss political, security and economic challenges. “We continue to advocate for dialogue over coercion.
And cooperation over confrontation. We affirm our stand on global peace and security, for multilateralism and international law,” Anwar said in his opening remarks. Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa attended the summit as Malaysia's guests, in the group's support for expanding trade links, he added. The summit convened after US President Donald Trump left Malaysia earlier Monday for Japan, following his participation at ASEAN's weekend summit meetings. On Sunday, Trump witnessed the signing of several economic agreements with Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia — part of Washington's push to strengthen trade ties.
