Jaishankar meets Rubio in Kula Lumpur in the backdrop of US sanctions on Rosneft, Lukoil

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar with United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a meeting on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
| Photo Credit:
PTI

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur on Monday days after the US imposed sanctions on Russian oil majors Rosneft and Lukoil that is expected to hit New Delhi’s sourcing from Moscow.

 “Glad to meet @SecRubio, this morning in Kuala Lumpur. Appreciated the discussion on our bilateral ties as well as regional and global issues,” Jaishankar posted on social media platform ‘X’.

Jaishankar’s meeting with Rubio is important not only because of Washington’s latest sanctions against Russian oil companies but also due to uncertainty around the tariffs imposed by the US on Indian imports as penalty for buying Russian oil.

India and the US are trying to conclude negotiations on a bilateral trade agreement (BTA) but the 25 per cent penalty tariffs on Indian goods, levied in addition to 25 per cent reciprocal tariffs (leading to a 50 per cent import tariff on most Indian goods), is proving to be a stumbling block.

“Indian trade negotiators had a good round of talks in Washington earlier this month ironing out many areas related to market access. But the penalty tariffs on India are to be sorted out at a diplomatic level with the US. Without that happening, a deal is difficult,” an official tracking the negotiations told businessline.

The US has been insisting that India should stop its oil purchases from Russia, but it is very difficult for the country to do so for both diplomatic and economic reasons. Russia has been the biggest supplier of oil to India since 2023 as the country’s sourcing increased following Moscow’s decision to sell oil at a discount. This happened after the West imposed sanctions on Russia for attacking Ukraine in early 2022. The war is set to enter its fourth year.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal recently questioned Western nations “singling out India” over its energy trade with Russia, while European countries, such as Germany, were seeking exemptions from US sanctions on oil.

“I was reading in today’s paper, Germany is asking for an exemption from US sanctions on oil. The UK has already sorted and probably got an exemption. So then why single out India?” Goyal said at a discussion at the Berlin Global Dialogue last week.

India is yet to take a call on how to officially deal with the issue of US sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil, as more than two-thirds of its oil imports from Russia come from these two companies. Indian private refiners have already indicated that they would recalibrate their imports from Russia following the sanctions.

Published on October 27, 2025