US Senator Marco Rubio's Visit to India Aims to Reboot Relations Amidst Turbulence

Marco Rubio’s three-day visit to Mumbai and Jamnagar comes amid unexpected turbulence in India’s relations with the United States during President Donald Trump’s second term. Hopefully, Rubio’s visit has prepared the ground for rebooting relations in the remaining two years of Trump’s term. For Delhi, Rubio’s persona matters. He is both Secretary of State and National Security Adviser, a powerful combination last seen under Henry Kissinger in the 1970s. As a Senator, Rubio has long favoured closer ties with India. He is a possible Republican presidential candidate in 2028. India’s political investment in the engagement with Rubio is a prudent bet for the long-term relationship with the US. For the near term, Rubio has sent positive signals. He expects the long-pending trade deal to be concluded soon, and President Trump has confirmed the assessment. Pessimists in Delhi, and there are many, fear that Trump could still reverse course on tariffs over Russian oil purchases. Optimists see room to narrow differences on the issue as Trump seeks to recalibrate relations with Russia and change the earlier course on Ukraine. Rubio has said the Jamnagar facility has made India a “refining superpower” and has hinted at a more strategic energy collaboration between India and the US that goes beyond Indian purchases of American hydrocarbons. Reliance, which runs the Jamnagar refineries, and now buys Venezuelan crude under a US licence, is set to become a crucial node in the US-India energy alliance. Rubio also hinted at a possible Quad meeting on the margins of the East Asia Summit in November, and spoke of the work underway at the ministerial level. He refused to be drawn into a discussion on the current protests in India, arguing that they are an internal matter. On H-1B visas, India also needs to pause and look within. Its own visa policy is highly restrictive; its political class is locked in a harsh public debate on foreign migrants. The government in Delhi has sensibly dissociated itself from the H-1B debate, which is an issue between US companies looking for foreign talent and the MAGA movement leading the backlash. Rubio said that the US is overhauling its immigration system. Once that is done, and the logic of market forces asserts itself, it is reasonable to expect Indian talent to fare better than most. It is also unfortunate that Delhi has made US relations with Pakistan a major issue in its engagement with Trump. India cannot claim the right to good relations with US adversaries like Iran and object when Washington does the same with Islamabad. Those familiar with the history of India-US ties will point out that the biggest advances in US-India ties, including the civil nuclear deal, came in the 2000s, when Washington had a very close military partnership with General Musharraf’s Pakistan. India’s relations with the US must be built on its own merits rather than in hyphenation with Pakistan. There is more than enough common ground to do that. India needs greater self-assurance in engaging the US.