The US is searching for to develop its strategic relationship with Pakistan however these ties don’t come on the expense of Washington’s relations with India, Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated.
Similar to India has ties with international locations that the US doesn’t, the vice versa applies, Rubio informed reporters on Saturday on board a flight to Doha.
“It’s a part of a mature, pragmatic international coverage,” he stated. “I don’t suppose something we’re doing with Pakistan comes on the expense of our relationship or friendship with India, which is deep, historic, and vital.”
The US’s pivot towards Pakistan underneath President Donald Trump has irked New Delhi and coincided with a fraying in ties between Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Pakistan and India, nuclear-armed neighbors with a contentious historical past, got here near a full-blown struggle in Could. Trump stated he used commerce as a bargaining chip to safe a peace deal between the 2 sides, a declare rejected by India. Pakistan, as an alternative, hailed Trump’s intervention and nominated him for a Nobel Peace Prize on the time.
“Look, we’re absolutely conscious of the challenges with reference to India and all the pieces else, however our job is to attempt to create alternatives for partnerships with international locations the place it’s doable,” Rubio stated. “And we’ve had a protracted historical past of partnering with Pakistan on counter-terror and issues of that nature. We’d prefer to develop it past that, if doable.”
Rubio stated he had reached out to Pakistan even earlier than the battle with India started, saying the US was “involved in rebuilding an alliance, a strategic partnership,” he stated.
Trump hit India with 50% tariffs on its exports to the US, far increased than Pakistan’s 19% price. The US has additionally signed offers with Pakistan on mining of essential minerals and oil.
Rubio arrived in Malaysia on Sunday to attend the Affiliation of Southeast Asian Nations summit together with Trump. Modi skipped the Asean summit, lacking out a doable assembly with the US president.
Trump on Sunday oversaw the signing of a peace settlement between Thailand and Cambodia, utilizing the occasion to focus on his monitor report in mediating conflicts. He made reference to Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Military Chief Asim Munir as “nice folks.”
Rubio is more likely to meet India’s Exterior Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on the sidelines of the Asean summit on Monday, giving the 2 officers a chance to debate commerce negotiations and India’s purchases of Russian oil.
Trump has demanded India halt its purchases of Russian vitality, which he says helps finance President Vladimir Putin’s struggle in Ukraine. India is among the many largest patrons of Russian crude, which makes up a few third of the nation’s whole oil imports. The US’s transfer final week to sanction two main Russian oil suppliers has despatched Indian patrons scrambling for alternate sources.
Rubio stated New Delhi has already knowledgeable the US about its intention to diversify oil provides and purchase extra vitality from the US.
“The extra we promote them, the much less they’ll purchase from another person,” he stated.
