Washington: The US sees an opportunity to expand strategic relationship with Pakistan but it will not be at the expense of its historic and important ties with India, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said.
Ahead of his meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, Rubio, referring to India's energy ties with Russia, said New Delhi has already expressed a desire to diversify its procurement of crude oil.
The US secretary of state was interacting with journalists ahead of his trip to Malaysia for the ASEAN summit.
Rubio, to a question on the US' ties with Pakistan, said New Delhi is "concerned for obvious reasons".
"But, I think they (India) have to understand we have to have relations with a lot of different countries. We see an opportunity to expand our strategic relationship with Pakistan," he said.
"I think the Indians are very mature when it comes to diplomacy and things of that nature. Look, they have some relationships with countries that we don't have relationships with. So, it's part of a mature, pragmatic foreign policy," he said.
"I don't think anything we're doing with Pakistan comes at the expense of our relationship or friendship with India, which is deep, historic, and important," Rubio added.
The US-Pakistan ties have witnessed an upswing in the last six months, especially after US President Donald Trump's meeting with Pakistan Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir following the military conflict between India and Pakistan in May.
While India rejected Trump's repeated claims that he brokered a ceasefire between the two countries, Pakistan credited the US president for ending the hostilities between the two countries.
To another question on if India will be willing to really shove off its purchases of Russian oil for a trade deal with the US, Rubio said New Delhi has already expressed an interest in diversifying its oil portfolio.
"If they diversified their portfolio, the more they buy it from us, the more they'll buy it from someone else. But I wouldn't prejudge or -- I'm not negotiating trade deals. So I'm not going to speak on that," he said.
"But I know they've (India) already expressed a desire to diversify their oil portfolio, even before all of this came up. So, obviously the more we sell them, the less they'll buy from someone else. And, but, we’ll see where we wind up on all that," he said.
Last week, the US sanctioned two Russian oil exporters, Rosneft and Lukoil, a move that is expected to discourage Indian refiners to procure Russian crude oil.
Rubio, responding to a question on the latest US action in the context of India, said both sides have "broader trade issues".
They (India) will always be our allies and friends, he said.
New Delhi's continuing procurement of Russian crude oil has been a major issue in the India-US ties.
The relations between New Delhi and Washington have been reeling under severe strain after Trump imposed 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods, including a 25 per cent levies for New Delhi's procurement of Russian oil.
India described the US action as "unfair, unjustified and unreasonable".
In the couple of weeks, Trump claimed Prime Minister Narendra Modi told him that India will stop buying Russian crude oil. Following Trump's first claim, India suggested that there was no such conversation.
Last week, the US president dialled Modi and extended Diwali greetings.