Kuala Lumpur: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has stated that the United States seeks stronger ties with Pakistan, but not at India's expense, citing India's foreign policy as an example of "multi-alignment". Rubio made these remarks to journalists on October 26, 2025, ahead of his meeting with Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar at the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur.
Rubio acknowledged potential unease in New Delhi regarding the evolving U.S.-Pakistan relationship, particularly in light of recent strategic and economic deals. However, he assured that the U.S. remains committed to its "deep, historic, and important" ties with India. He emphasized that the U.S. must maintain relations with a variety of countries and sees an opportunity to expand its strategic relationship with Pakistan.
"New Delhi is concerned for obvious reasons, but I don't think anything we're doing with Pakistan comes at the expense of our relationship with India," Rubio stated. He described India as "very mature when it comes to diplomacy" and stressed that the U.S. must maintain relations with a variety of countries.
Rubio highlighted that Washington's outreach to Islamabad had begun even before the recent India-Pakistan border conflict. "We're fully aware of the challenges with regards to India and everything else, but our job is to create opportunities for partnerships wherever possible," Rubio said. He added that the U.S. and Pakistan have had "a long history of partnering on counter-terrorism" and that Washington is now looking to "expand it beyond that," while acknowledging that "there'll be some difficulties and challenges".
The Secretary of State's comments come amid an upswing in U.S.-Pakistan relations over the past six months. As part of this revived engagement, the United States and Pakistan signed an agreement to develop and export rare earth minerals.
Addressing India's energy ties with Russia, Rubio noted that New Delhi had already expressed a desire to diversify its crude oil procurement. "If they diversified their portfolio, the more they buy it from us, the less they'll buy it from someone else," he said.
Some experts believe that U.S.-India relations are under pressure, given trade and tariff tensions, and the perception that the U.S. has been more lenient towards China and Pakistan at India's expense. For example, Pakistan currently has a 19% tariff on its exports to the U.S., compared to India's 50%.
Observers say the Jaishankar-Rubio meeting in Malaysia will be closely watched for signs of how the U.S. administration seeks to balance its renewed outreach to Pakistan with its deepening strategic partnership with India.
