Rubio and Jaishankar hold talks in Mumbai as US and India aim to finalize trade deal

MUMBAI, India -- MUMBAI, India (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio held talks with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in Mumbai on Tuesday as the two countries seek to deepen energy cooperation and move closer to finalizing a trade deal.New Delhi and Washington seek to revive trade negotiations stalled for months by tensions over U.S. tariffs and India’s purchases of Russian oil.“We’re very, very close. I would say we’re about as close as you can be without having executed the agreement. I think there’s a small number of items left to wrap up, so I think that will happen shortly,” Rubio told reporters in Mumbai on Tuesday.India’s foreign ministry said the talks were expected to cover key areas of bilateral cooperation, including energy, trade, investment and defense.Washington imposed tariffs of up to 50% on most Indian goods in August 2025 after trade talks broke down. Under a framework agreed in February 2026, the tariff rate was reduced to 18%, but negotiations have since stalled.Earlier this month, Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the talks had “plateaued.” India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, however, said last week that the f...