Desi Talk

www.desitalk.com – that’s all you need to know 7 US˨INDIA May 29, 2026 U .S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio held talks with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishan- kar on Saturday, as the two sides discussed the Middle East, trade, visas, maritime security and energy supplies, whileWashington cited progress on efforts to resolve the Iran conflict. Rubio said progress had been made in the past 48 hours on an outline that could help resolve the situation around the Strait of Hormuz and added there was a pos- sibility of “good news” in the next few hours. He reiterated that Iran could never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon and said attacks on commercial vessels were “totally illegal”. The discussions come amid heightened tensions in the Middle East and concerns over shipping lanes and energy supplies through the Strait of Hormuz, through which a significant share of global oil shipments passes. Jaishankar said India and the United States had com- mon interests and shared challenges, and that India sup- ported safe maritime passage. He said the two sides also discussed efforts to conclude a bilateral trade deal at an early date and visa-related challenges faced by Indian workers. Successive U.S. administrations, including under President Donald Trump’s first term, have sought to draw historically non-aligned India closer as a counterweight to rising Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific, though ties were strained afterWashington imposed steep tariffs on Indian goods last year. More recently, New Delhi has closely watched U.S. efforts to stabilise relations with China and improve engagement with Pakistan, amid concerns in India over Washington’s regional priorities. Rubio described India as an important strategic part- ner and said the two countries were aligned on terrorism and energy. He also said India was among the countries with global influence. Highlighting the breadth of ties between New Delhi andWashington, Rubio said the range of issues discussed underscored that India was “an important strategic partner of the United States, one of our most important strategic partners in the world.” Jaishankar said the United States had emerged as a reliable energy source for India. India and the United States have expanded coopera- tion in recent years across defence, technology and trade, even as New Delhi maintains ties with countries includ- ing Iran and Russia as part of its longstanding policy of strategic autonomy. Rubio discussed trade and energy with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday. Rubio also ex- tended an invitation on behalf of U.S. President Donald Trump for Modi to visit theWhite House in the near future. “Yesterday during the secretary’s call on the Prime Minister, some global and regional issues were discussed, and in our subsequent meeting at the embassy, we took up developments pertaining toWest Asia,” Jaishankar said. -Reuters U .S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed trade and energy with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday on a visit aimed at shoring up relations battered byWashington’s tariffs and engagement with New Delhi’s rivals Pakistan and China. Rubio – who said before the trip the U.S. wanted to sell India energy – pressed his case and told Modi that “U.S. energy products have the potential to diversify India’s energy supply,” according to a U.S. summary of the meeting. Rubio “emphasized that the United States will not let Iran hold the global energy market hostage,” his office added. The energy crisis sparked by the Iran war has set back U.S. efforts to wean India off Russian oil. U.S. presidents, including Trump in his first term, have long tried to pull historically non-aligned India closer as a counterweight to Russian and rising Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific. Those efforts appeared to take a blow last year when Trump slapped some of the highest U.S. tariffs on India. “India is at the cornerstone of how the United States approaches the Indo-Pacific, and not just through the Quad, but bilaterally,” Rubio told reporters after meeting Modi, referring to a diplomatic partnership between the United States, Australia, India, and Japan. RUBIO SEEKS TO RESTORE TIES HURT BY TARIFFS Many of those were rolled back in an interim agree- ment, but the two countries are yet to finalise a compre- hensive agreement on trade. The U.S. has meanwhile grown closer to India’s rival and neighbour Pakistan, with Islamabad emerging as a key interlocutor in efforts to end the Iran war, a new ir- ritant to the U.S.-India relationship. While Modi did not specifically mention Iran in Satur- day’s meeting, he reiterated India’s support for peace ef- forts and called for peaceful resolution of conflict through dialogue and diplomacy, the Indian government said in a statement. Rubio also extended an invite on behalf of U.S. Presi- dent Donald Trump for Modi to visit theWhite House in the near future, U.S. Ambassador to India Sergio Gor said. For India, Trump’s visit this month to Beijing amplified concerns about U.S. ties, said Basant Sanghera, a former State Department South Asia policy expert now with The Asia Group consultancy. Sanghera said Trump’s approach had “created a perfect storm of anxiety” in India about the U.S. relationship, “but ties have stabilized and both sides are trying to build momentum in the areas that there is convergence.” The Biden administration lavished attention on India as a vital strategic partner and feted Modi during a 2023 state visit. Trump also welcomed the prime minister to theWhite House early in his second term before impos- ing steep tariffs that threw ties off course. INFLUENTIAL AMBASSADOR U.S. Ambassador Gor, dubbed “the India whisperer” by Michael Kugelman of the Atlantic Council think tank, arrived in New Delhi in January and has sought to reset ties. Gor is a friend of Trump’s and previously aWhite House adviser. In February, the two countries reached a “framework for an interim agreement” on trade to lower Trump’s tariffs on Indian goods to 18% from a punishing 50%, half of which had been linked to India’s prior purchases of Russian oil. But talks to finalise the deal slowed after the U.S. Su- preme Court in late February struck down Trump’s tariffs. That effectively brought the duty rate on Indian goods down to 10%, but New Delhi has been weighing its op- tions as the Trump administration pursues investigations under unfair trade practices legislation widely expected to restore much of the prior levies. New Delhi has pressed for a Trump visit to India, tied to a summit of the Quad group of countries, which groups the U.S., India, Japan and Australia. But analysts say that fell by the wayside amid trade tensions and dis- tractions, including the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. “I do not expect Secretary Rubio will have much im- pact in changing the downward trajectory,” Richard Ros- sow of the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank said. “The lack of a trade agreement – more than three months after the announcement of the ‘interim deal’ – clouds other areas of engagement.” Rubio will attend a Quad meeting in India next week – the third such gathering without a leader-level engage- ment and effectively an “unannounced downgrade” of the grouping, Rossow said. On Saturday, Rubio “shared his appreciation for India hosting the upcoming Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting,” his office said in a statement which did not refer to India’s entreaties for Trump to take part. -Reuters By Michael Martina and Saurabh Sharma By Michael Martina, David Brunnstrom, Simon Lewis and Trevor Hunnicutt India, US Discuss Middle East, Trade As Rubio Cites Progress On Iran Conflict Rubio Touts US Energy On India Trip Meant To Repair Ties PHOTO:REUTERS/ADNAN ABIDI PHOTO:US EMBASSY IN INDIA U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar attend a joint press conference after their meeting at the Hyderabad House in New Delhi, India, May 24, 2026. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks at a dedication ceremony for an annex building at the U.S. embassy in New Delhi, India, Saturday, May 23, 2026.