Rubio, who arrived in New Delhi on May 23 as part of a broader Indo-Pacific tour, will be in India until May 26.
He is next scheduled to take part in a Quad foreign ministers’ meeting the following day. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi will also take part.
Rubio’s visit to India comes amid heightened geopolitical tensions in West Asia, a growing focus on Indo-Pacific security, and ongoing discussions around energy supply chains and trade cooperation with India.
In the past two days, Rubio met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar for talks spanning bilateral strategic ties and regional security developments, among other things.
The discussions also focused on the evolving situation involving Iran and the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global oil shipping route, as Washington pushes diplomatic efforts aimed at stabilising maritime trade flows in the region.
India and the US also reviewed progress under the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership.
Rubio also pitched that the US could supply energy to India as the country reels from soaring energy costs amid the war in West Asia. India’s purchase of Russian oil last year soured ties with the US, leading to punitive tariffs.
Rubio’s visit was widely expected to signal a further reset.
“India-US relationship never lost momentum,” he said Sunday, during a press conference. “The President never said let’s create friction with India on trade…The President says we have a trade imbalance, and let’s address it. We did it from a global perspective,” Rubio added.
President Trump has since called himself “a big fan of Prime Minister Modi” and that assured that ties between the two countries have not been better.
“We’ve never been closer to India and India can count on me 100% and our country…If they ever need help, they know where to call — they call right here,” he said.
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(Edited by : Tenzin Norzom)
