Rubio says visa curbs not aimed at India, trade deal weeks away

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, visiting India for the second time in five months, said Washington’s visa restrictions were not directed at Indians and its tariffs were not intended to penalise New Delhi. He also predicted that an India-US trade agreement could be completed within weeks, while acknowledging that the final terms remained unsettled.

India Today’s October 21 report, citing Rubio’s interview with The Indian Express, placed those assurances against uncertainty over US immigration rules, trade measures linked to Russian energy purchases and Washington’s engagement with Pakistan’s military leadership.

Visa assurances amid Green Card uncertainty

Rubio presented the immigration restrictions as an effort to address what he described as two decades of inadequate enforcement, rather than a measure aimed at India.

The report said the Trump administration had suspended eight technology giants from the Permanent Labour Certification, or PERM, programme earlier in October. PERM is an important stage in the employer-sponsored Green Card process, making the reported suspensions relevant to foreign professionals seeking permanent residence in the United States.

The distinction between permanent residence and temporary work visas matters: the report said the suspensions did not directly affect new H-1B applications. They nevertheless raised concerns about longer-term career prospects, particularly for Indian professionals.

Citing US Citizenship and Immigration Services data, the report put the number of Indian H-1B applicants in 2025 at 283,772, representing 69.9 per cent of applicants. That share underlines India’s substantial exposure to changes in US skilled-worker immigration policy.

Tariffs paused, negotiations not yet complete

On trade, Rubio acknowledged that tariffs—including measures linked to countries’ purchases of Russian oil and gas—could affect economic relations and required careful handling. He said Washington did not intend such duties to damage its partnership with India.

According to the report, President Donald Trump had days earlier waived sanctions, restrictions and duties targeting major buyers of Russian energy, a day before proposed 100 per cent tariffs on India were due to take effect. The decision put on hold measures that could have imposed duties of up to 100 per cent on goods from countries including India and China.

The reported waiver has no fixed end date: it remains in place until Trump or his administration decides further action is necessary. It therefore represents a pause in those measures, rather than a reported permanent withdrawal.

Rubio said the remaining differences in the bilateral trade negotiations largely concerned the interpretation of particular words and phrases. He estimated that 99 per cent of the work was complete and put a possible conclusion weeks, rather than months, away. That was his assessment of the negotiations, not an announcement of a completed agreement.

Pakistan ties not a trade-off, Rubio says

Addressing concerns in New Delhi about US engagement with Pakistan’s military leadership, Rubio said Washington’s relationships with other countries would not be pursued at India’s expense. He rejected the idea that closer ties with Pakistan necessarily required a weaker partnership with India.