NEW DELHI: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Kolkata early Saturday on his first official visit to India, with high-level talks on energy, trade and Indo-Pacific strategy expected to dominate his four-day trip.
Rubio, who will be in India from May 23 to May 26, is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi later in the day in New Delhi. He is also expected to hold discussions with external affairs minister S. Jaishankar and participate in the Quad foreign ministers’ meeting alongside representatives from Japan and Australia.
The visit comes at a sensitive moment in India-US relations, with growing economic cooperation running parallel to tensions over tariffs and concerns around the increasingly transactional foreign policy approach of US President Donald Trump.
Rubio’s itinerary includes stops in Kolkata, Agra, Jaipur and New Delhi, and is being viewed as a significant attempt by Washington to reinforce strategic ties with India as New Delhi deepens engagement with multiple global powers, including the European Union and Gulf nations.
Ahead of his arrival, Rubio repeatedly referred to India as a “great ally” and “great partner”, while signalling that energy and trade would be central to discussions.
“We want to sell them as much energy as they’ll buy,” Rubio said before departing for India. “We want to be a bigger part of their portfolio.”
Energy security and trade high on agenda
Washington’s renewed push to strengthen energy ties with India comes amid concerns over global supply disruptions and rising oil prices following instability in West Asia and tensions around the Strait of Hormuz.
Rubio suggested the US sees India not only as a strategic ally, but also as one of the world’s most critical energy markets.
“We were already in talks with them to do more,” he said, adding that the US also sees “opportunities with Venezuelan oil”.
His remarks come as India looks to diversify crude supply routes amid global volatility and mounting energy costs.
At the Annual Leadership Summit of the American Chamber of Commerce, US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor described bilateral ties as standing at a “remarkable moment”.
He highlighted the rapid expansion in trade between the two countries, which has grown from nearly $20 billion two decades ago to over $220 billion in goods and services today. Both countries are now aiming to raise bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030.
Gor also pointed to increasing business engagement, noting that Indian companies are expanding operations in the United States in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, manufacturing and technology, while major American corporations continue to deepen investments in India.
Executives from companies including Uber, Walmart, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and GE Aerospace have been travelling frequently to India amid growing investment interest, he said.
Quad meeting to focus on Indo-Pacific strategy
Rubio’s visit will also include the Quad foreign ministers’ meeting on May 26, a key diplomatic engagement in Washington’s broader Indo-Pacific strategy aimed at countering China’s expanding regional influence.
The Quad grouping — comprising India, the United States, Japan and Australia — has become increasingly central to strategic coordination in the region.
Rubio underlined the importance the US places on the alliance, 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 coexists with growing caution over America’s reliability under Trump’s second term.
Trump has repeatedly claimed credit for helping defuse tensions between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack and India’s subsequent military response — assertions India has firmly rejected.
Diplomacy, symbolism and Kolkata significance
Rubio’s arrival has also been accompanied by visible public diplomacy efforts from the US Embassy in India.
In New Delhi, auto-rickshaws have been fitted with Trump-themed covers displaying images of the US president, the American flag and the Statue of Liberty as part of outreach tied to America’s upcoming 250th Independence celebrations and Rubio’s visit.
The campaign has generated mixed reactions online.
Rubio’s Kolkata stop is also symbolically significant. It marks the first visit by a US Secretary of State to the city since Hillary Clinton travelled there in 2012.
Kolkata is home to one of America’s oldest diplomatic missions globally, with the US consulate in the city dating back to the late eighteenth century.
