Oil, Quad and Trump factor: What to expect from top US official Rubio’s India visit

NEW DELHI: US secretary of state Marco Rubio landed in Kolkata early Saturday and is set to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi later in the day in New Delhi.


Rubio’s four-day visit, his first official trip to India from May 23 to May 26, comes at a delicate moment in India-US ties, one marked by growing economic engagement, but also friction over tariffs and Washington’s increasingly transactional foreign policy under US President Donald Trump.



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Rubio’s trip will take him to Kolkata, Agra, Jaipur and New Delhi, where he is expected to hold talks with external affairs minister S Jaishankar and participate in the Quad foreign ministers’ meeting alongside representatives from Japan and Australia. The visit is being seen as a major attempt by Washington to reinforce its partnership with New Delhi at a time when India has expanded ties with multiple global powers, including the European Union and Gulf nations.

Ahead of the visit, Rubio repeatedly described India as a “great ally” and “great partner”, while making clear that energy and trade would dominate discussions. “We want to sell them as much energy as they’ll buy,” Rubio said while speaking to reporters in Miami before departing for Sweden and India. “We want to be a bigger part of their portfolio.”

Energy and trade expected to dominate talks

Washington’s push to deepen energy ties with India comes amid global concerns over supply disruptions and rising prices following instability in West Asia and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Rubio suggested the US sees India not only as a strategic partner, but also as one of the world’s most important energy markets.

“We were already in talks with them to do more,” Rubio said, adding that Washington also sees “opportunities with Venezuelan oil”. He noted that Venezuela’s interim leadership was also expected to visit India next week, signalling broader conversations around alternative energy routes and supply chains.

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The emphasis on energy reflects the larger economic relationship both sides are now trying to expand. At the Annual Leadership Summit of the American Chamber of Commerce, US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor described the bilateral relationship as standing at a “remarkable moment”.

Gor pointed to the dramatic growth in trade between the two countries over the last two decades, from roughly $20 billion to more than $220 billion in goods and services. He said both nations were now working towards an ambitious target of $500 billion in bilateral trade by 2030.

“Indian companies continue to expand in the United States, particularly in pharmaceuticals, manufacturing and technology, while US firms are increasing their footprint in India,” Gor said.

He also highlighted the growing presence of American corporate giants in India, saying top executives from companies including Uber, Walmart, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and GE Aerospace were regularly travelling to India as investment interest surged.

Quad, Indo-Pacific and strategic balancing

Rubio’s visit will also feature a major diplomatic component through the Quad foreign ministers’ meeting scheduled for May 26. The grouping, comprising India, the United States, Japan and Australia, has increasingly become central to Washington’s Indo-Pacific strategy aimed at countering China’s growing influence in the region and comes on the backdrop of Trump's Beijing visit.

Rubio underlined the importance Washington places on the Quad, noting that his first meeting as Secretary of State had been with Quad ministers. “I’m glad we are able to do it now in India and we’re going to do one later in the year as well,” he said.

For New Delhi, however, strategic cooperation with Washington now exists alongside growing caution about America’s reliability as a partner. Relations between the two countries have become increasingly complicated during Trump’s second term. Trump has repeatedly claimed credit for ending tensions between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack and India’s subsequent military response.

India has firmly rejected suggestions of any US mediation.

Symbolism and messaging around the visit

Rubio’s arrival also comes amid visible American public diplomacy efforts in India. In New Delhi, dozens of auto-rickshaws have been fitted with Trump-themed covers carrying images of the US president, the American flag and the Statue of Liberty to mark America’s upcoming 250th Independence celebrations and Rubio’s visit.

The US Embassy said thousands of such covers were being distributed across the capital, although the campaign has drawn mixed reactions online.

Rubio’s stop in Kolkata is also historically significant. It will mark the first visit by a US Secretary of State to the city in nearly fourteen years, following Hillary Clinton’s visit in 2012. The city houses America’s second-oldest consulate in the world, established in the late eighteenth century.