EAM Jaishankar meets Marco Rubio in Malaysia; appreciates discussion on US-India ties

Kuala Lumpur, Oct 27: India’s External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar, on Monday, met the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and appreciated the discussion on bilateral ties as well as regional and global issues.The meeting comes amid the ongoing trade talks between the two countries.In a post on his official X account, EAM Jaishankar wrote: “Glad to meet @SecRubio this morning in Kuala Lumpur. Appreciated the discussion on our bilateral ties as well as regional and global issues.””We are in dialogue with the United States of America. Our teams are engaged. We recently had the commerce secretary visit the US, and he met with his counterparts. We continue to engage with them, and talks are progressing. We hope to work towards a fair and equitable agreement in the near future,” Union Minister Piyush Goyal said last week.Earlier, Rubio dismissed growing concerns that Washington’s growing strategic ties with Pakistan are meant to sideline India. He noted that the relationship with Islamabad would not undermine the US’ “deep, historic, and important” partnership with New Delhi.The US State Secretary, while addressing the press en route to Doha, Qatar, on Saturday, asserted that New Delhi understands the necessity of engaging multiple nations in a mature diplomatic framework.”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,” Rubio told reporters when asked about India’s apprehensions over the recent surge in the US-Pakistan relationship.India and ASEAN nations strengthened their bond at the 22nd ASEAN-India Summit on Sunday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted key areas for collaboration, counter-terrorism, early review of the ASEAN-India FTA, and maritime security, among others.Prime Minister Modi participated virtually in the Summit. This was the Prime Minister’s 12th participation in the India-ASEAN Summit.PM Modi and ASEAN leaders jointly reviewed progress in ASEAN-India relations and discussed initiatives to strengthen the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.According to a Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) press release, PM Modi said that terrorism poses a serious challenge to global peace and security and stressed the importance of unity in the fight against it.