US' relationship with Pakistan ‘will never come at expense’ of India ties, says Marco Rubio

US secretary of state Marco Rubio has said that United States' relationships with Pakistan or any other country “will never come at the expense” of its ties with India – a response he gave to a question related to concerns being reportedly raised about Washington's ties with Islamabad.Rubio had earlier said that US and India were “very close” to finalising a trade deal, with only a few items left. (REUTERS)Rubio was asked whether a situation like the 1970s, when then-US President Richard Nixon and his national security advisor Henry Kissinger displayed a slant towards Pakistan, was returning. “…What everyone should be assured of in India is that our relationship, not just with Pakistan but with any country in the world, will never come at the expense of our relationship. We don’t view it that way in our relationship with India," Rubio said in an interview with The Indian Express published Wednesday.He further said his visits to India, America's “commitment” to the trade deal with New Delhi and their “engagements” serve as evidence of the countries' relations.The US secretary of state is in India for a three-day official visit. After landing in Mumbai on Tuesday, he held a meeting with external affairs minister S Jaishankar. After the meeting, Rubio said both countries were “very close” to finalising a trade deal, with only a few items left.On Wednesday, he left for Jamnagar under the second leg of his visit.Also Read | Rubio says US immigration curbs not aimed at India, blames 'mass migration' for visa crackdownRubio rejects Nixon-Kissinger era comparison: ‘World looks nothing like it did back then’Rubio said he would “not use the 1970s as an example” today.“The world looks nothing like it did back then. Back then, we had the Cold War and all sorts of other dynamics that no longer exist,” he told The Indian Express. The Nixon-Kissinger era refers to the period between 1969–1974, when former US president Richard Nixon and his then national security adviser Henry Kissinger displayed a “pro-Pakistan tilt” and took a contradicting view of former prime minister Indira Gandhi amid the Indian forces' push towards the then East Pakistan, which was recognised as Bangladesh three days later.The US secretary of state said that Pakistan was one of the countries America has relations with, adding, “In some ways, it could be a positive thing if we could help discourage actions that could potentially lead to conflict, if we could use our influence in ways that are positive…”Also Read | With Marco Rubio in India, Trump says trade pact ‘pretty close’, hints at ‘different kind of deal’Rubio had made similar remarks earlier, when he said that Pakistan was a country the US “has to have a relationship with”. “It's a country that possesses nuclear weapons. It's a country that, from a geographic standpoint, we need to be able to interact with them, in much the same way as the government of India has to have and has a relationship and meets with leaders from Iran,” he told CNBC TV18. The US secretary said that “these things” were hard to balance, but had to be part of the American foreign policy.Rubio's meeting with Jaishankar; visit to JamnagarIndia and the United States on Tuesday reviewed their bilateral cooperation, with the focus on energy and defence, during the meeting between Rubio and Jaishankar. During the meeting, the US secretary of state urged the Indian side to increase energy trade and step up purchases of American technologies and systems.Rubio, who travelled to India for the second time in less than five months with a large business delegation, met Jaishankar in Mumbai.After the meeting with Rubio, Jaishankar said on social media that they discussed ways to further advance “our ties, focusing on trade, energy, technology, defence and people-to-people ties”, and exchanged views on regional developments.Rubio is visiting Jamnagar on Wednesday, with focus being on talks that will include “enhanced energy cooperation", news agency ANI reported. Jamnagar is the home to one of the world's largest refineries, operated by Reliance.