Rubio’s India visit to focus on energy, Quad talks and strategic ties

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will arrive in India on May 23, with energy cooperation firmly at the top of the agenda, signalling a major push by Washington to deepen one of its most consequential strategic partnerships with New Delhi.

“The US wants to sell as much energy as India will buy. We are at historic levels of production and export. We want to be able to do more. We were already in talks with them to do more. We want to be a bigger part of their portfolio,” Rubio said in Miami before departing for Sweden ahead of his India leg.

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During his four-day visit, Rubio will travel to Kolkata, Agra, Jaipur and New Delhi, with energy, trade, defence and emerging technologies forming the core agenda.

With the Hormuz crisis disrupting global fuel supplies and fuelling inflation across several economies, Washington sees a strategic opening to position itself as a reliable energy supplier to India.

Apart from holding bilateral talks with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Rubio will also call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Rubio also pointed to Venezuelan oil as an area of opportunity, noting that the interim president of Venezuela is expected to travel to India next week for discussions related to oil supplies.

On May 26, Rubio will attend the Quad Foreign Ministers’ meeting at the invitation of Jaishankar, alongside Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi. The ministers are expected to advance Quad cooperation and exchange views on developments in the Indo-Pacific region.

“There will be a lot to discuss during this important visit, including key engagements with Quad partners,” Rubio said.

On trade, US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor expressed confidence that an interim Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) would be finalised within weeks or months, noting that Indian companies had committed more than $20 billion in investments in the United States. “Big things are coming,” he said.

Beyond hydrocarbons, civil nuclear energy is emerging as a key pillar of the next phase of India-US strategic ties. Ahead of Rubio’s arrival, a high-level delegation from the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) and the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) met Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai as part of the “US Nuclear Executive Mission to India.”

India and the United States are also expanding cooperation in biotechnology, quantum technologies, space, atomic energy and nuclear medicine. Minister of State for Atomic Energy and Science and Technology Jitendra Singh recently met Ambassador Sergio Gor to discuss ways to strengthen bilateral collaboration across nuclear energy and biotechnology sectors.

The collaboration is being driven under the US-India TRUST initiative and is supported by India’s decision to open nuclear research and nuclear medicine-related investments to private and foreign participation.