US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to the media after visiting the Civil-Military Coordination Center in southern Israel.(AP) US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday that Washington sees an opportunity to strengthen its strategic relationship with Pakistan, but this will not come at the expense of its longstanding ties with India.
Rubio was speaking to journalists ahead of his meeting with Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Kuala Lumpur during the ASEAN summit.
‘Opportunity to expand ties with Pakistan’
Referring to US-Pakistan relations, Rubio said: “We see an opportunity to expand our strategic relationship with Pakistan.”
He noted that India has some ties with countries the US does not, saying: “They have some relationships with countries that we don’t have relationships with. So, it’s part of a mature, pragmatic foreign policy.”
‘Not at the expense of India’
Rubio said that Washington’s relationship with India remains strong: “I don’t think anything we’re doing with Pakistan comes at the expense of our relationship or friendship with India, which is deep, historic, and important.”
He added that New Delhi is aware of the US’s need to maintain relations with multiple countries.
‘India wants to diversify oil portfolio’
On questions about India’s oil purchases from Russia, Rubio said: “I know they’ve already expressed a desire to diversify their oil portfolio, even before all of this came up. Obviously, the more we sell them, the less they’ll buy from someone else. But we’ll see where we wind up on all that.”
He also noted that both countries have broader trade issues but stressed that India will always be a friend and ally of the United States.
Rubio’s remarks come after US-Pakistan ties improved in the last six months, particularly following Trump’s meeting with Pakistan Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir after Operation Sindoor in May.
