The US sees great potential for joint production of defense equipment in India. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is on a four-day visit to India, said this in an interview with News18.
„As far as joint production is concerned, it would be an ideal option. Of course, this is an area that we still need to develop, but this would be the ideal scenario because India has huge potential“, the Secretary of State noted. „It has a highly skilled workforce and I know that our companies are very interested in establishing production here.“
According to Rubio „this applies not only to the US and India, but also to many other countries around the world – there is a pressing need to develop a defense industrial base“. “And I believe that India could make a really huge contribution to that process,” he added.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said his country intends to resolve the Iran issue “one way or another” but right now it is pursuing diplomacy.
“President Donald Trump always prefers to resolve these kinds of issues through diplomatic agreements and that is what we are working on now, but this issue, as the president has perhaps made clear, will be resolved one way or another,” he told reporters at the US Embassy in New Delhi. The program was broadcast by Fox News.
“We hope that this will happen diplomatically, that is what we are working on, and maybe at some point during my visit to India there will be something to discuss here on this topic“, the top US diplomat added.
The US hopes to finalize a trade agreement with India soon. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this in an interview with News18 while on a four-day visit to India.
“We hope that very soon we can finalize a trade agreement that will make both of our countries stronger,“ he said.
Regarding relations with India in general, Rubio noted that Washington is looking for new areas for developing cooperation. “It is clear that we have a lot in common. Indian companies are making significant investments in the US economy, so I see this visit, among other things, as a continuation of our work, as further building on the foundation we already have and the progress we have made in the last year and a half alone,” he noted.
New Delhi and Washington have been negotiating a comprehensive trade agreement since February 2025, which envisages increasing bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030.
So far, India and the US have completed the first part of the trade agreement. Its provisions were to be converted into a legal document, which the two countries planned to sign in March, but this has not happened yet.