External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday agreed on the importance of finalising an interim trade deal between the two countries which is almost complete.
The two leaders also discussed finalising bilateral defence agreements in fulfillment of commitments made between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump last year.
Meeting in Manila on the margins of ASEAN engagements, they also reviewed recent developments in West Asia, including the ongoing war, and the Indo-Pacific, the US Department of State said in a press release.
In a social media post on X, Jaishankar said, ‘’Pleased to meet @SecRubio of the USA Here in Manila. Our meeting focused on areas which are priority for the Indo-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership, including trade & tariffs, energy, defence & security, critical minerals & artificial intelligence. We also exchanged quick perspectives on regional, global and multilateral issues of mutual interest.’’