U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in India for his first official visit on May 23, where he is expected to hold bilateral talks with senior officials ahead of the Quad foreign ministers’ meeting next week.
U.S. Ambassador to India, Sergio Gor, said in a post on X that Rubio had landed in Kolkata, India, and later traveled to New Delhi for a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“We have an ambitious agenda ahead, including the Quad Foreign Ministers meeting, focused on advancing [President Donald Trump’s] vision for an even stronger U.S.-India partnership.
“Looking forward to great conversations and making real progress together,” Gor said in a subsequent post.
While in Kolkata, Rubio visited the Missionaries of Charity, which was founded by Mother Teresa in 1950. Gor said the visit demonstrated that the U.S.-India partnership goes beyond “strong policies” and is built on “shared values and the spirit of selfless service that transcends borders.”
During the four-day trip, Rubio will also make stops in Agra and Jaipur for talks with senior Indian officials, which will focus on energy security, trade, and defense cooperation between their nations, according to the State Department.
The state secretary is also scheduled to attend the Quad foreign ministers’ summit in New Delhi on May 26. The Quad is a diplomatic partnership between the United States, India, Japan, and Australia.
“There’s a lot to work on with India, they’re a great ally and partner. We do a lot of good work with them so this is an important trip,” Rubio told reporters ahead of his visit to India.
The visit took place just days after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced a 30-day extension of a sanctions waiver allowing countries to continue purchasing Russian oil stranded at sea.
Bessent said in a May 19 post that the extension was intended to ensure crude oil supplies reach “the most energy-vulnerable countries” amid the ongoing war in Iran. The waiver was expected to benefit India, a major market for Russian oil.
India has been one of Russia’s biggest petroleum customers following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The United States began to ease sanctions as the escalating conflict in Iran roiled global energy markets.
India also committed to buy more American products, including more than $500 billion of U.S. energy, information and communication technology, coal, and other products, according to the U.S. Embassy.
Bill Pan and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
