United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated on Monday that Washington was getting very close to concluding a trade agreement with India, noting that this partnership factored into national security waiver determinations. Speaking to journalists in Samarkant, Uzbekistan, Rubio mentioned that the administration has had to issue sanctions waivers over recent months because of global supply conditions and the pressure those dynamics placed on international partners. US President Donald Trump previously deferred certain energy-related sanctions under national security provisions, temporarily halting potential tariffs of up to 100 percent on major buyers of Russian crude and gas, including India. Although these secondary sanctions remain merely deferred rather than canceled, Rubio pointed to elevated global energy costs and the practical challenges of rapid supply diversification. He observed that geography presents real hurdles for certain nations trying to source alternative fuel supplies quickly. This follows his previous acknowledgment that while New Delhi has worked to broaden its energy sources, shifting away entirely from Russian imports overnight remains exceptionally difficult. Rubio is scheduled to arrive in India on Tuesday for a planned meeting in Mumbai with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar. Meanwhile, Union Minister Piyush Goyal announced recently that the inaugural phase of the bilateral trade pact has been concluded and is currently undergoing legal review and drafting before final implementation.