“If we have a relationship and we can speak to them, it could help us, perhaps puts us in a position to help discourage the kinds of things that India is worried about,” says Rubio
Marco Rubio, United States Secretary of State, in an exclusive interview with Network18 Group Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi, said that the US is against terrorism anywhere in the world, as he spoke about the ties with Pakistan.
“We’re against anybody who sponsors terrorism,” he said.
“In my new role, I am no longer the senator, as the Secretary of State, I have to manage the foreign policy of the United States and that does require us to have relationships with countries, including those that we may have some disagreements with. In the case of Pakistan, it’s a country that we have to have a relationship with. It’s a country that possesses nuclear weapons. It’s a country that, from a geographical 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,” said Rubio.
“So, these are difficult things to balance, but they have to be as part of our foreign policy, and I think, in a way, could be a positive thing because if we have a relationship and we can speak to them, it could perhaps help us, perhaps puts us in a position to help discourage the kinds of things that India is worried about,” he said.
#MarcoRubioOnNews18 | Secretary Rubio, in 2025, you vowed to cut US security aid to Pakistan if it sponsored terrorism against India. Does that stance still hold today?
We’re against terrorism anywhere in the world. We’re against anybody who sponsors terrorism. In my new role I’m the Secretary of State. I have to manage the foreign policy of the United States and that does require us to have relationships with countries, including those that we may have some disagreements with: @SecRubio, US Secretary of State
#EXCLUSIVE #MarcoRubio #IndiaUSRelations #IndiaUSTradeDeal #Russia #Ukraine #QUAD @StateDept @USAndIndia | @18RahulJoshi
— News18 (@CNNnews18) October 20, 2026
RUBIO ON IRAN
Rubio said it was tough to make a deal with the Iranian regime. “Unfortunately, they don’t know how to make a deal and they are controlled by radical Shia clerics, and I don’t mean Shia clerics, I mean radical Shia clerics who are driven by theology, very difficult to make a deal with them. The Straits are, if you look at any given time in the Straits, the amount of traffic and oil and energy flowing through them 80 to 100% equal to what it was before the conflict,” he said.
“Unfortunately, Iran is doing something and that’s really what people should be talking about, but they really should be talking about is that we have a nation state that is openly, openly saying that we are targeting commercial vessels, we are trying to kill sailors who have nothing to do with war. We are trying to sink commercial ships. You haven’t seen that since the Second World War. They are doing Nazi U Boat tactics. And that’s what the world should be rallying around and condemning. Every single night the United States defends shipping, the overwhelming majority of these drones and missiles that they are launching at ships are being destroyed. Every now and then unfortunately one will get through and strike the ship. Luckily, for the most part, most of the ships are able to continue in transit, but every now and then you do see an engine room hit and every now and then you see loss of life, including many Indian sailors have lost their lives in these strikes, because it’s such a large number of Indian sailors out there,” he said.