India is a very close partner of the U.S., but President Donald Trump has imposed additional tariffs on New Delhi for its purchases of Russian oil as part of actions taken against President Vladimir Putin for the Ukraine war, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday (September 23, 2025).
He made the remarks in an interview with Good Morning America while responding to a question that Mr. Trump has “repeatedly threatened” to take action against Mr. Putin but backed off those threats, and how much more time is Mr. Trump going to give the Russian leader, who has intensified his attacks on Ukraine.
“Well, I think he has taken action. So, for example, we’ve imposed additional tariffs on India — and they’re a very close partner of ours — and we had meetings with them again yesterday, and it has to do with their purchase of Russian oil,” Rubio said.
When it was pointed out that Mr. Trump has not taken any direct action on Russia, Mr. Rubio referred to the bill by U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, which “was about tariffs on India and China for the purchase of oil and gas from Russia”.
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“I think the President has also called on Europe to step up to the plate. There are countries in Europe that are still buying massive amounts of natural gas and oil from Russia, in essence, directly fueling the war effort. The President has also instructed us, and we’ve made a lot of progress working on security guarantees,” the Secretary of State said.
He added that shortly after the Alaska summit between Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin, European leaders had come to Washington.
“We agreed to work on security guarantees for the future of Ukraine after the end of this conflict. We’ve made a tremendous amount of progress in creating the outlines for that, and that’s going to be essential in any negotiated end to the war,” Rubio said.
Mr. Rubio had met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in New York on Monday morning on the sidelines of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly high-level week.
In a post on X, Mr. Jaishankar had said it was “good to meet” Rubio in New York.
“Our conversation covered a range of bilateral and international issues of current concern. Agreed on the importance of sustained engagement to progress on priority areas. We will remain in touch,” Mr. Jaishankar had said.
‘Relationship of critical importance’
After the meeting, the U.S. said that India is a relationship of critical importance to the United States and voiced “appreciation” for the Indian government’s continued engagement on bilateral issues, including trade, defence and energy.
Mr. Rubio, reiterating that “India is a relationship of critical importance to the United States, expressed his appreciation for the Indian government’s continued engagement on a number of issues, including trade, defence, energy, pharmaceuticals, critical minerals, and other items related to the bilateral relationship,” a readout of the meeting provided by the State Department had said.
Mr. Rubio and Mr. Jaishankar agreed that the United States and India will continue working together to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific region, including through the Quad, the statement added.
The meeting, which lasted for about an hour, was the first in-person meeting between Mr. Rubio and Mr. Jaishankar amid tensions between the two countries over the last few months on trade, tariffs and Delhi’s purchases of Russian energy.
The Trump administration imposed an additional 25% tariff on Delhi as a penalty for its purchases of Russian oil, taking the total levies imposed on India by the US to 50%, among the highest in the world.
Just days before the meeting, President Donald Trump signed a proclamation imposing a staggering $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas. The announcement caused widespread concern and panic among Indian professionals, including those from the IT and medical fields, who are the largest beneficiaries of the H1B skilled-worker program.
Mr. Rubio and Mr. Jaishankar had last held bilateral discussions in July in Washington DC on the sidelines of the Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.
Peace initiatives
In a separate interview with Fox and Friends, Mr. Rubio said Mr. Trump has put more time and energy into peace proposals and peace initiatives than anybody else in the world, and he has had the most success of anybody else in the world.
“He doesn’t get a lot of credit, but let’s not forget the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda had a war going on; it’s the President that brokered that. Azerbaijan and Armenia, it’s the President who brought that about.
“Thailand and Cambodia — it’s the President that brought the end to that about. India and Pakistan. That’s just four right off the top of my head in the last few months. And the President is the one who did that, not any other leader in the world and not the UN,” Mr. Rubio said.
Published – September 24, 2025 08:39 am IST
