US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday (October 19) that the United States is "very close" to finalising a trade deal with India, speaking to reporters in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, ahead of his India visit on Tuesday (October 20). "We are trying to finalise a trade deal with India right now. We are very close to doing that," he said.

Rubio linked the talks to Washington's sanctions waivers: "We have had to waive sanctions over the past few months because of the impact on global supplies and prices... That's one of the things we take into consideration when the President makes a decision about national security waivers."

He added: "Geography is real. For some countries, it's very difficult to acquire energy from alternative sources. That's not an excuse, but all of that has to be balanced when making foreign policy."

Per IANS, President Donald Trump has signed an order implementing the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act while waiving its tariffs on buyers of Russian oil.

Rubio arrives in Mumbai on October 20 to meet External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, then travels to Jamnagar, home to the world's largest single-site oil refinery. The US State Department said his October 17–22 travel covers Samarkand, Mumbai and Jamnagar, and PTI reported via a government source that the Mumbai talks will focus on the Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership — energy, trade, critical and emerging technologies.

The context from both sides: Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has said the first tranche of the deal is finalised and in legal drafting; External Affairs Minister Jaishankar has said talks are nearing a "landing point"; US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on October 2 that a deal was not imminent; and IANS reports dairy access is the biggest remaining obstacle.

Under the February framework, the US cut its reciprocal tariff on Indian goods from 25% to 18% and removed an additional 25% duty linked to India's Russian oil purchases, while India committed to reduce tariffs on US industrial goods and farm products including tree nuts, fruit, soybean oil, wine and spirits.

Sources: IANS (October 19, 2026); PTI via News18 (October 19, 2026); US State Department travel statement.