Marco Rubio defended Washington's ties with Pakistan, citing its nuclear arsenal and strategic location, and said continued engagement could help address India's security concerns. He also assured New Delhi that relations with Islamabad would not come at the expense of the US-India partnership.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reiterated Washington’s opposition to terrorism and its sponsors. (Photo: Reuters)
New Delhi,Oct 21, 2026 12:37 IST
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has defended the need to keep Washington’s ties with Islamabad intact despite differences, arguing that engagement with Pakistan could also help address New Delhi’s security concerns.
Citing Pakistan’s nuclear weapons and strategic location, he said the relationship gave the US a channel to discourage actions that worry India. Rubio also reiterated Washington’s opposition to terrorism and its sponsors, assuring New Delhi that ties with Pakistan would not come at the expense of its relationship with India.
In an interview with Network18 on Tuesday, Rubio said managing US foreign policy required Washington to engage with countries with which it might have differences, including Pakistan.
“In my new role, I am no longer the senator. As the Secretary of State, I have to manage the foreign policy of the United States and that does require us to have relationships with countries, including those that we may have some disagreements with,” Rubio said, during his ongoing visit to India, his second in five months.
Explaining why Washington needed to maintain ties with Islamabad, he cited Pakistan’s nuclear capabilities and strategic location.
“In the case of Pakistan, it’s a country that we have to have a relationship with. It’s a country that possesses nuclear weapons. It’s a country that, from a geographical standpoint, we need to be able to interact with, in much the same way as the government of India has to have and has a relationship and meets with leaders from Iran,” he said.
His remarks came in response to a question on whether Washington’s policy towards Pakistan had changed, given that Rubio, as a US senator in 2025, had said he would introduce a bill to cut US security aid to Pakistan if it sponsored terrorism against India.
Rubio reiterated Washington’s opposition to terrorism, saying the US was against any country that sponsored it. “We are against terrorism anywhere in the world. We’re against anybody who sponsors terrorism,” he said.
US CAN USE TIES WITH PAK TO ADDRESS INDIA’S CONCERNS
Rubio argued that keeping Pakistan in Washington’s diplomatic fold could help the US curb actions that concern New Delhi, even as it navigates ties with Islamabad and reaffirms its opposition to state-sponsored terrorism.
“So, these are difficult things to balance, but they have to be as part of our foreign policy, and I think, in a way, could be a positive thing because if we have a relationship and we can speak to them, it could perhaps help us, perhaps put us in a position to help discourage the kinds of things that India is worried about,” he said.
Rubio framed engagement with Islamabad as a foreign policy necessity rather than a departure from Washington’s stated opposition to terrorism.
US-PAK TIES WON’T HURT INDIA: RUBIO
In a separate interview with The Indian Express, Rubio sought to allay concerns in India over the Trump administration’s relationship with Pakistan’s generals, saying Washington did not view its engagement with Islamabad as coming at the cost of its partnership with New Delhi.
“What everyone should be assured of in India is that our relationship, not just with Pakistan but with any country in the world, will never come at the expense of our relationship. We don’t view it that way in our relationship with India,” Rubio said.
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