Jaishankar, Rubio hold wide-ranging talks as India-US ties show signs of reset

India and the United States on Sunday signalled efforts to revive momentum in bilateral ties as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held detailed discussions on trade, visas, energy security, cross-border terrorism and the impact of the West Asia conflict.

Rubio, who is on a four-day visit to India, described New Delhi as a major power and rejected suggestions that India-US ties had slowed down over the last two decades. He said the relationship would become stronger by the end of the current US administration’s term.

The talks marked the first major dialogue between the two sides after bilateral ties witnessed strain following punitive tariffs imposed by the US and remarks by US President Donald Trump over his role in de-escalating India-Pakistan military tensions last May.

During the discussions, Jaishankar outlined India’s five-point position on global stability and foreign policy. He said India supports dialogue and diplomacy to resolve conflicts, backs safe and unimpeded maritime commerce, demands respect for international law and opposes the “weaponisation” of market shares and resources.

The two sides also focused on expanding cooperation in defence, critical minerals, high technology and economic engagement.

“The US-India relationship has not lost any momentum. I understand why some people might say that. I don’t understand, but I understand some people say that. This is not about India. This is about the United States in terms of trade,” Rubio said at a joint press conference while responding to a question from PTI.

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Rubio called India one of America’s most important strategic partners.

“India is an important strategic partner of the United States, one of our most important strategic partners in the world,” he said.

Jaishankar said India’s approach to global challenges remains guided by five broad principles.

“Let me state India’s broad position… And I would make five points here. One, that we advocate dialogue and diplomacy to address conflicts. Two, we support safe and unimpeded maritime commerce,” he said.

“Three, we demand scrupulous respect for international law. Four, we are against the weaponisation of market shares and resources. And five, we believe in the value of trusted partnerships and resilient supply chains to de-risk the global economy,” he said.

People familiar with the matter said Jaishankar also raised concerns over the impact of the West Asia conflict on India’s energy security and economy.

He underlined the need for India to diversify energy sources and said the energy market should not be “distorted”.

“The way we will deal with the current situation in Hormuz and frankly, going forward as well, is to diversify our energy sources, because that is at the heart of our energy security, and that is why we feel strongly that the energy market should not be distorted, should not be constrained.

“It is important to keep energy prices down for global growth,” he said.

Jaishankar said India maintains strong ties with the United States, Israel, Iran and Gulf countries.

“So we have real interest there. For us, the challenge in this situation is how to maintain all these relationships, how to protect our equities, how to advance our interests. We don’t look at it as a zero-sum game,” he said.

“We have to manage and take care of all these accounts. I would say there are some general principles by which we would approach this region.

“Obviously, we want peace and stability in the region,” he added.

Jaishankar also reiterated India’s support for safe and unimpeded maritime commerce in the Strait of Hormuz.

Speaking on energy cooperation, he said there has been a “very significant uptick” in India’s energy imports from the United States.

“India and the United States both have a very strong interest in ensuring that there is safe and unimpeded maritime commerce. We also have a very strong interest in ensuring that globally energy prices are kept low and that energy sources are more available,” he said.

Referring to the global geopolitical situation, Jaishankar said India maintains relations with the US, Russia, Europe, Ukraine and countries across the world.

“The question then is how do you manage all of them. So in that sense, it is multi-alignment because today’s India has that range of interests which require us to manage multiple accounts,” he said.

The external affairs minister also raised India’s concerns over changes in US visa and immigration policies under the Trump administration, saying legal mobility should not be negatively affected.

Rubio acknowledged that there could be “some bumps” and “friction points” during the transition period as Washington reforms its immigration system.

The US Secretary of State said the process was not specifically targeted at India.

“Anytime you undertake a reform, any time you undertake a change in the system by which you admit people, there’s going to be a period of transition that’s going to create some friction points and some difficulties,” he said.

“It is not a system that is targeted at India; it is one that’s being applied globally. But we’re in a period of transition, and like any period of transition, there’s going to be some bumps on that road.”

On economic ties, Rubio said India and the United States were moving towards a trade agreement that would be beneficial and sustainable for both sides.

“We’ve made tremendous progress, and I think we’re going to wind up with a trade agreement between the US and India that is going to be enduring and is going to be beneficial to both sides and sustainable in a way that addresses national interest that we have,” he said.

Asked about Washington’s ties with Pakistan and China, Rubio said US engagement with other countries does not come at the cost of its strategic partnership with India.

“As far as our relations with other countries are concerned, we have relations and we work at the tactical level in many ways with countries all over the world, so does India, like every other responsible nation,” he said.

“But I don’t view our ties with any country in the world as coming at the expense of our strategic alliance with India,” he added.

Jaishankar also highlighted counter-terror cooperation between the two countries.

“Prominent among them is terrorism. Our position in that regard is very clear. It is one of zero tolerance. We appreciate the strong cooperation between the concerned agencies of our two countries in this domain,” he said.

“I particularly recognised the extradition from the United States to India last year of a key planner of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. Our two countries will intensify cooperation bilaterally, as well as in relevant international forums. We will continue to collaborate closely on countering illegal trade,” he added.

Hours after the meeting, Jaishankar described the talks as “good discussions” in a post on X.

He said the two sides reviewed the full spectrum of the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership, including trade and energy, defence and security, critical minerals and AI, nuclear cooperation, counter-terror and counter-narcotics cooperation, and people-to-people ties.

He also said he looked forward to joining Rubio and counterparts from Australia and Japan for the Quad Foreign Ministers’ meeting on Tuesday.

Rubio also met National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the discussions focused on defence, security and strategic technology cooperation, including the TRUST initiative.

“The two NSAs reiterated the high priority accorded to the bilateral Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership. They also exchanged views on regional and global issues,” he said.

Rubio also serves as National Security Advisor in the Trump administration.