Marco Rubio goes to India: What is at stake with the Trump-Modi relationship? | | International Business News

United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to India on Saturday for a three-day visit to Kolkata, Agra, Jaipur and New Delhi.

They will discuss energy, trade and security issues with Indian officials, US State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said on Tuesday.

The visit comes as relations between US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi continue to fluctuate.

So what is Rubio’s journey, and is he trying to build bridges between the two countries?

Here’s more on why Rubio’s visit to India is important.

What is Rubio’s visit to India?

Rubio is spending a few days in India ahead of a meeting of foreign ministers from the informal Quad forum that includes the US, Japan, Australia and India in New Delhi on May 26.

The Quador Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, has been called the “Asian version of NATO”. It was developed in response to China’s rising power and has participated in military and naval exercises in the Indo-Pacific region.

Rubio’s visit also comes after Trump’s days in office moved to stop A US fraud case indicts Indian billionaire Gautam Adani on charges of bribing Indian officials to the tune of $265m to win contracts and lying to US investors to secure a solar power project in India, allegations his company has denied.

The case was dropped by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) after Adani promised to pay $10bn in US dollars.

In a letter X Monday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced another 30-day extension of the lifting of sanctions that allow the purchase of marine fuel from Russia to support countries that are at risk of war with Iran, and reinstated the plan not to increase.

Bessent said that the Treasury is issuing a 30-day permit after the initial waiver expired on May 16. It allows temporary access to Russian oil and petroleum products that are tied up in trains without violating major US sanctions on Russian oil officials, he said.

The development has temporarily eased pressure on Russian oil buyers such as India, which has previously been criticized by the US for relying on cheap Russian oil.

All these actions – the removal of charges against Adani and the increase in sanctions on Russian oil already in the sea – can be seen as an attempt to strengthen relations with India, observers said.

Rubio’s meeting with the other leaders of the Quad will also be seen as a sign of the US reaffirming its commitment to the Indo-Pacific region.

Is Rubio trying to improve relations with India?

Analysts say Rubio’s visit to India is part of Washington’s attempt to mend its relationship with New Delhi following the fallout between Trump and Modi last year.

Sadanand Dhume, senior fellow for India, Pakistan and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations (CEFR), wrote in an article on the CEFR website on Thursday that Rubio is going to India in a “remedial process”.

Last October, India’s foreign secretary Shyam Saran told The Wire: “The 25-year high in India’s relations with the US has taken a turn for the worse, if it hasn’t started to decline”.

Why has India’s relationship with the US deteriorated?

There have been several major points of contention between Trump and Modi.

Russian oil prices and sales

Last year, relations between the two came to a head when Trump reimposed 25 percent tariffs – doubling the existing 50 percent – as a “punishment” against India’s continued purchases of Russian oil.

In October, after a meeting with Modi, Trump said India had committed to stop buying Russian oil. Instead, Trump agreed to cut US tariffs on Indian goods to 18 percent.

But, since the beginning of the US-Israel war in Iran, and the subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz, India continues to buy Russian oil.

Now the US hopes to persuade India to buy oil from the US and Venezuela on the contrary.

Pakistan

Rubio’s visit comes after months of trying to improve relations between the US and Pakistan, India’s arch-enemy.

In April last year, India and Pakistan went to war after a terrorist attack killed 26 people in Pahalgama popular tourist destination in Indian-administered Kashmir. The attack was claimed by The Resistance Front (TRF), a separatist group designated a “terrorist” organization by India and the US, and New Delhi says it is linked to Pakistan’s Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a group that wants Kashmir to be part of Pakistan – something Islamabad denies.

Following the Pahalgam attack, New Delhi downgraded its relations with Islamabad and suspended the Indus Waters Treaty, which guarantees the equitable sharing of the waters of the Indus River between the two countries.

On May 7, India it affected nine places in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir with missiles, which Islamabad says have killed dozens of civilians. For the next three days, the countries engaged in an air war, using drones and missiles to target the weapons.

The ceasefire – which Trump said was a debt – was finally broken on May 10. However, tensions between the South Asian neighbors continue. India also refused to accept Trump’s decision to suspend the ceasefire while Pakistan nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize.

“PM Modi made it clear to President Trump that at this time, there has been no talk on issues like India-US trade agreement or US mediation between India and Pakistan,” Indian foreign secretary Vikram Misri said. he said June is over.

During the US-Israeli war in Iran, Pakistan has been working as a mediator and is constantly coordinating with US officials. “Great respect to Pakistan, but I will, because they’re going to be dangerous. They’re going to try, and they’re going to be concerned,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News in April.

Last December, US agreed to sell advanced technology and upgrades to Pakistan’s F-16 fighter jets worth about $686m.