U.S Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in India on Saturday for a four-day visit amid geopolitical tensions and a global energy crisis fueled by the ongoing conflict in West Asia.
Rubio arrived in Kolkata on Saturday morning and is set to visit Delhi, Jaipur, and Agra. He also has a meeting scheduled with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where he hopes to secure major energy deals amid the fuel crisis.
India relies on imports for more than 80% of its energy needs, making it one of the worst affected countries by the Iranian blockade on the Strait of Hormuz.
Rubio said, “We want to sell them [India] as much energy as they’ll buy. And obviously, you’ve seen, I think, we’re at historic levels of U.S production and U.S export.”
He might also be hoping to reduce the United States’ trade deficit with India, which rose to $58.2 billion in 2025.
However, critics fear India could suffer from the proposal as it would be a longer and more expensive route for the nation to get energy imported from Washington. Experts do not see it as a logical solution to combat the current fuel shortage.
Vineet Prakash, an associate professor of U.S studies at Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, spoke to BBC, “Energy security is going to be the key theme of this visit because the Iran situation is not going to be resolved anytime soon. The US has already given a waiver to India on buying Russian oil, but Delhi is likely to push for more concessions.”
Rubio’s visit also comes amid disagreements between both nations on certain topics, particularly the United States’ growing relationship with Pakistan.
Pakistan is currently acting as the mediator between Washington and Tehran, which has brought the country diplomatically closer with the United States. U.S President Donald Trump has also praised Pakistani army chief Asim Munir, calling him his “favourite field marshal”.
