Mumbai/New Delhi, Oct 20: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio kick-started a three-day visit to India on Tuesday to advance bilateral ties in energy, trade and investment, defence and critical technologies, and exchange views on the West Asia crisis.
Rubio’s second India visit this year comes amid persistent friction in bilateral ties. During his earlier trip in May, he held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, besides attending a Quad foreign ministers’ meeting.
The visit of the US Secretary of State, who is accompanied by a large business delegation, is likely to focus largely on boosting India-US economic engagement.
In their meeting in Mumbai on Tuesday afternoon, Jaishankar and Rubio are expected to deliberate on ways to further strengthen the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership.
“Welcome to Mumbai, US Secretary of State, on your second visit to India!” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal posted on social media shortly after the top American diplomat landed at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in India’s financial capital.
Rubio was received by Ashish Shelar, Maharashtra’s Minister of Culture, Electronics, IT and AI, at the airport.
“The visit provides an opportunity to further advance cooperation across the various pillars of the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership,” Jaiswal said.
In addition to his meeting with Jaishankar, Rubio’s engagements in Mumbai included laying a wreath at the Taj memorial to honour the victims of the 26/11 terror attack, which claimed the lives of over 160 people, including six US nationals.
The top American diplomat will also attend a reception to mark the 250th anniversary of the US’ independence.
“Discussions are expected to cover key areas of bilateral cooperation, including energy, trade and investment, defence, critical and emerging technologies, and other areas of mutual interest,” Jaiswal said last week.
The two sides are also likely to delve into the proposed bilateral trade deal as well as the situation in West Asia.
“The visit will provide an opportunity to sustain the high-level engagement between the two countries and advance our shared priorities,” Jaiswal had said.
Rubio will travel to Jamnagar in Gujarat on Wednesday.
Ahead of his visit, Rubio said in Uzbekistan that the US is “very close” to finalising the trade deal with India. He also suggested that the US waiver on tariffs for buying Russian oil was linked to the decision.
Last week, US President Donald Trump suspended certain sanctions against Russia and five of the biggest buyers of Russian oil, including India.
“We’re trying to finalise the trade deal with India right now. We’re very close to doing that. So that’s one of the things we take into consideration when the President makes a decision about national security waivers and things of that nature,” Rubio said.
India and the US have been engaged in talks since early 2025 on the proposed trade pact to address tariff friction, eliminate non-tariff barriers, and boost bilateral market access.
India is seeking better tariffs than its competitors for its goods in the US market.
External Affairs Minister Jaishankar said a few days back that the trade talks between the two sides are nearing a “landing point”.
The India-US relations witnessed a major downturn after Washington imposed punitive tariffs on India last year and President Trump made assertions regarding his role in de-escalating the India-Pakistan military clashes of May 2025 that drew sharp reaction from Indian officials.
Washington’s new immigration policy and its decision to increase the H1B visa fee also contributed to the slide in India-US ties.
The ties came under fresh strain after the US decided to restrict a key green-card processing programme for major global and Indian IT firms, including Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro.
