U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is scheduled to visit India’s Jamnagar this week as Washington waives new duties tied to Russian energy purchases and pursues a trade agreement with New Delhi.
The State Department’s Oct. 17-22 itinerary places Mumbai and Jamnagar after Samarkand, Uzbekistan. It lists energy cooperation and meetings with business leaders among Rubio’s plans in India. U.S. Ambassador to India Sergio Gor said Rubio would meet Reliance representatives in Jamnagar.
Reliance Industries operates a refinery complex in Jamnagar that it describes as the world’s largest at a single site. The company puts its crude-processing capacity at 1.4 million barrels per day. The Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) estimates Russian oil supplied 32% of the complex’s crude imports from July through September. Its estimates show Russian crude imports fell 27% in September from August.
The trip follows President Donald Trump’s Oct. 16 waiver of new Russia-related measures. The president’s order set a possible extra 100% duty on goods from the five biggest importers of Russian oil and gas if they knowingly made new purchases beginning Oct. 18. It waived that duty, other new duties, and specified sanctions and restrictions under the 2026 law. The waiver has no fixed expiration date; the president or secretary of state can decide when to take further action. Measures under earlier executive orders addressing the Russia national emergency remain in place.
A separate Feb. 6 White House order removed an additional 25% duty on Indian goods effective Feb. 7. The White House said India had committed to stop importing Russian oil.
Rubio said in Samarkand on Oct. 19 that the United States and India were “very close” to finalizing a trade deal. In February, the governments announced a framework for an interim agreement. Its proposed terms include an 18% U.S. reciprocal tariff on specified Indian goods and lower Indian barriers to U.S. products. They have announced neither a completed agreement nor a signing date.
