External Affairs Minister Jaishankar on Tuesday spoke with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio with both sides reviewing key areas of bilateral cooperation including trade, critical minerals, nuclear energy, defence and energy.
In a post on X, Jaishankar said “Just concluded a good conversation with Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Discussed trade, critical minerals, nuclear cooperation, defence and energy,” he wrote, adding that the two leaders agreed to stay in touch on these and other issues.
Just concluded a good conversation with @SecRubio.
Discussed trade, critical minerals, nuclear cooperation, defence and energy.
Agreed to remain in touch on these and other issues.
🇮🇳 🇺🇸
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) January 13, 2026
This comes amid anticipation of India and US getting close to signing the first phase of the long-awaited trade deal, the talks regarding which are in its final stages. Earlier, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick had blamed India for dragging its feet on the India-US trade deal.
India is currently facing the steepest US tariffs of 50 per cent despite being engaged in negotiations with the US since February last year, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi first visited Washington.
