Indian Foreign Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio addressed a joint press conference in New Delhi. The ministers of both countries answered every question. During the press conference, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed several key issues, including Iran, racist comments, trade, and visas.
Marco Rubio also gave a clear answer to the ongoing tensions with Iran and identified Donald Trump’s targets. He also mentioned trade relations with India. Let’s learn the key takeaways from the joint press conference between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and S. Jaishankar:
When asked about racist comments against Indian Americans in the US, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, “I will take these comments very seriously.” I’m sure there are people who have made comments online and elsewhere, because every country in the world has stupid people.
I’m sure there are stupid people here, and even in the United States, who make stupid comments all the time. The United States is a very welcoming country. Our country has benefited from people coming to our country from all over the world.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, “On the situation in Iran, I think there will be more news on this topic later today, and I’ll leave further announcements to the President. Suffice it to say that some progress has been made, significant progress, though it’s not final progress. I remind everyone that the ultimate goal is that Iran never develops a nuclear weapon.”
Marco Rubio said that Iran will never be able to possess a nuclear weapon. The Strait of Hormuz is an international waterway, and what they’re doing right now is basically threatening to destroy commercial vessels using an international waterway, which is illegal under any concept of international law.
The US Secretary of State said that in the last 48 hours, working with our partners in the Gulf region, some progress has been made on a framework that could ultimately, if successful, provide us not only with a completely open Strait of Hormuz, but I mean an open Strait without tolls.
At a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar said that our energy imports from the United States have increased significantly. This is nothing new. It started several years ago, but I think it has really accelerated in the past year.
In India’s context, this is an era of risk mitigation, and perhaps the energy sector needs the most risk mitigation. Therefore, a large country, if it wants to mitigate risks, focuses on multiple sources of energy. For us, the United States has emerged as a very important and reliable source of energy, as has been the case for some other countries as well.
Our approach to the current situation in the Strait of Hormuz, and indeed, in the future as well, is to diversify energy sources, as this is fundamental to our energy security. Therefore, we strongly believe that the energy market should not be distorted or restricted. Keeping energy prices low is crucial for global development.
At a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar said that the foundation of our relationship is people-to-people relations. I informed Secretary Rubio about the challenges in issuing visas to legitimate travelers. While we are cooperating to combat illegal and irregular movement, we expect that this will not adversely impact legitimate movement. After all, this is vital for our trade, technology, and research cooperation.
India and the United States share common interests, but they also face similar challenges. Terrorism is the most prominent among these. Our position on this issue is clear. We have a zero-tolerance approach to terrorism. We appreciate the strong cooperation between the relevant agencies of our two countries in this area.
I particularly recognized the extradition of a key planner of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks from the United States to India last year. Our two countries will further strengthen cooperation bilaterally and in relevant international forums. We will continue to work together to combat illicit trade.
External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar stated that both India and the United States have a vital interest in ensuring safe and unhindered maritime trade. We also have a vital interest in keeping global energy prices low and ensuring greater availability of energy sources.