Mumbai/New Delhi, Oct 20: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday held wide-ranging talks largely focusing on cooperation in the energy and defence sectors against the backdrop of continuing friction in bilateral ties.
The Jaishankar-Rubio meeting took place shortly after the top US diplomat landed in Mumbai on a three-day India visit that came nearly five months after his first trip to the country as the Secretary of State.
Before his talks with Jaishankar, Rubio visited the Taj memorial and laid a wreath in honour of the victims of the horrific 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks that included six American citizens.
“In Mumbai, Indian External Affairs Minister @DrSJaishankar and I discussed energy security and defense cooperation while reaffirming the importance of advancing the U.S.-India strategic partnership,” the US Secretary of State said on social media.
The top diplomat also answered questions from the media on the India-US energy ties as well as his trip to Reliance Industries Ltd’s refinery in Jamnagar on Wednesday.
“In order for energy to become usable, you have to refine it. You have a company with a massive amount of refining capability. I think I should go talk to them, especially when it involves nation-states,” he said.
“We’re going to go see a company that has a tremendous amount of refining capability. It makes all the sense in the world to talk to them about it. It’s very difficult to understand something or see what the possibilities are if you’re not going to speak to them,” he noted.
The US Secretary of State also responded to a query on India’s procurement of Russian crude oil.
“India has expressed repeatedly its desire to diversify its energy portfolio, which is a smart thing to do. It’s not easy to do that from one day to the next,” he said.
“I think they’ve made some substantial progress in that regard, and we’re happy to see that. But in the end, it’s not just about Russian oil; it’s about India’s desire to diversify, and we think we can be a source of some of its energy inputs.”
“We have discussed Venezuela and other countries, and I think it’s in our interest to have strong allies with diverse energy portfolios,” he noted.
It is not immediately known whether the proposed trade deal between India and the US figured in the Rubio-Jaishankar talks.
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 on Monday.
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 H1B visa fees 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.
