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24-05-2026
Bureau Report
NEW DELHI: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has held talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi as part of a four-day visit to the country.
Rubio arrived in the eastern city of Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) on Saturday morning before travelling to the capital. He is also due to visit Jaipur and Agra.
He extended an invitation to visit the White House to Modi during their meeting, US officials said. The Indian premier, meanwhile, said the pair had discussed “issues related to regional and global peace and security”.
The visit comes as the two nations seek to reshape their economic relationship, and amid a global energy crisis triggered by the Iran war that has acutely affected India.
Energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway that has become a flashpoint since Israel and the US attacked Iran have virtually ground to a halt.
Iran has used the effective closure of the strait, through which around 20% of the world’s oil and natural gas flows, as a pressure tactic in the fragile peace negotiations with the US.
India, which imports more than 80% of its energy needs, has suffered as a result. Nearly half of India’s crude oil imports usually pass through the strait.
Rubio discussed the situation in the Middle East with Modi, his spokesman said following their meeting.
“(He) emphasized that the United States will not let Iran hold the global energy market hostage and affirmed that US energy products have the potential to diversify India’s energy supply,” the US official added.
Rubio had indicated ahead of the meeting that the US was keen to sell India “as much energy as they’ll buy”. There will be appetite in Delhi to boost its energy imports from the US as it will also help bridge the trade deficit that has been in India’s favor something that has constantly irked US President Donald Trump.
The US goods trade deficit with India was $58.2bn (£43.3bn) in 2025, a 27.1% increase on 2024 but it’s not a straightforward solution. It’s a much longer and expensive route for India to get energy shipments from the US and analysts say it is not logical for India to fill the current shortfall in its imports from the US.
“Energy security is going to be the key theme of this visit because the Iran situation is not going to be resolved anytime soon,” Vineet Prakash, associate professor of US studies at Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, said.
“The US has already given a waiver to India on buying Russian oil, but Delhi is likely to push for more concessions.”
Rubio’s visit also comes under the shadow of prolonged tensions between Delhi and Washington over trade negotiations and conflicting claims on who settled the brief India-Pakistan conflict last year.
While Trump has repeatedly claimed that he brokered peace between the neighbors, Delhi has consistently denied this with its stated policy of not welcoming a third party to mediate between the nuclear-armed nations in South Asia.
What also appears to have displeased Delhi is Trump’s open affection for Pakistani army Chief Asim Munir, whom the US president has called his “favorite field marshal”.
Pakistan’s peace mediation efforts between Iran and the US appear to have brought Islamabad and Washington even closer.
Prakash added that this wasn’t surprising, as Pakistan shares a long border with Iran and is strategically important for the US to keep the country close but Rubio is not likely to make statements around Pakistan on this trip “any talks around Pakistan are likely to stay behind closed doors when Rubio meets leaders in Delhi,” Prakash added.
