US secretary of state Marco Rubio has said that United States' relationships with Pakistan or any other country “will never come at the expense” of its ties with India – a response he gave to a question related to concerns being reportedly raised about Washington's ties with Islamabad.
Rubio was asked whether a situation like the 1970s, when then-US President Richard Nixon and his national security advisor Henry Kissinger displayed a slant towards Pakistan, was returning. “…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 in an interview with The Indian Express published Wednesday.
The US secretary of state is in India for a three-day official visit. After landing in Mumbai on Tuesday, he held a meeting with external affairs minister S Jaishankar. After the meeting, Rubio said both countries were “very close” to finalising a trade deal, with only a few items left.
On Wednesday, he left for Jamnagar under the second leg of his visit.
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Rubio rejects Nixon-Kissinger era comparison: ‘World looks nothing like it did back then’
Rubio said he would “not use the 1970s as an example” today.
“The world looks nothing like it did back then. Back then, we had the Cold War and all sorts of other dynamics that no longer exist,” he told The Indian Express. The Nixon-Kissinger era refers to the period between 1969–1974, when former US president Richard Nixon and his then national security adviser Henry Kissinger displayed a “pro-Pakistan tilt” and took a contradicting view of former prime minister Indira Gandhi amid the Indian forces' push towards the then East Pakistan, which was recognised as Bangladesh three days later.
While assuring that US relations with other countries would not affect ties with India, Rubio said, “I hope my visits here, our commitment to doing the trade deal, all of the engagements that we have done, all the work that we do together, is evidence of that….”
The US secretary of state said that Pakistan was one of the countries America has relations with, adding, “In some ways, it could be a positive thing if we could help discourage actions that could potentially lead to conflict, if we could use our influence in ways that are positive…”
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Rubio's meeting with Jaishankar; visit to Jamnagar
India and the United States on Tuesday reviewed their bilateral cooperation, with the focus on energy and defence, during the meeting between Rubio and Jaishankar. During the meeting, the US secretary of state urged the Indian side to increase energy trade and step up purchases of American technologies and systems.
Rubio, who travelled to India for the second time in less than five months with a large business delegation, met Jaishankar in Mumbai.
After the meeting with Rubio, Jaishankar said on social media that they discussed ways to further advance “our ties, focusing on trade, energy, technology, defence and people-to-people ties”, and exchanged views on regional developments.
Rubio is visiting Jamnagar on Wednesday, with focus being on talks that will include “enhanced energy cooperation", news agency ANI reported. Jamnagar is the home to one of the world's largest refineries, operated by Reliance.