Rubio meets Jaishankar in his first bilateral; commits to deepening India ties
Jaishankar and Rubio both reaffirmed their commitment to stronger US-India ties especially in technology, defence, and energy.
Washington: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in his first bilateral engagement since taking charge on Tuesday, met external affairs minister S Jaishankar, with both reaffirming their commitment to stronger US-India ties especially in technology, defence, and energy.

The two met right after participating in a Quad foreign ministers meeting with their Australian and Japanese counterparts, a meeting at which they agreed to work for a free and open Indo-Pacific, a goal reiterated in bilateral discussions. Quad ministers agreed to deepen ties in the areas of maritime, tech and economic security in the context of “increasing threats”.
Jaishankar said he was ‘delighted’ to meet Rubio for the latter’s first bilateral engagement after assuming office, and that they had both extensively reviewed the bilateral partnership, for which he credited Rubio as a ‘strong advocate.’
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As a senator, Rubio consistently introduced legislation supportive of deeper strategic ties between India and the US, as well as India’s position in conflicts with both China and Pakistan. After exchanging views on a wide range of regional and global issues, Jaishankar expressed his eagerness to work closely with Rubio to advance their strategic cooperation.
Jaishankar also met President Donald Trump’s national security advisor Michael Waltz at the White House on Tuesday, their second meeting in just over three weeks.
“Discussed strengthening our friendship to ensure mutual benefit and enhance global stability and prosperity. Looking forward to working together on an active and outcome oriented agenda,” the minister said on X after the meeting.
Deeper tech, defence and energy ties
The new State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement that Rubio’s meeting with Jaishankar had “affirmed a shared commitment to continue strengthening the partnership” between the US and India.
“They discussed a wide range of topics, including regional issues and opportunities to further deepen the U.S.-India relationship, in particular on critical and emerging technologies, defence cooperation, energy, and on advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific region,” Bruce said.
Distilling the statement, “regional issues” and “free and open Indo-Pacific”, in US-India diplomatic statements, are often code for acknowledging that the two sides discussed China’s actions.
The first Donald Trump administration has elevated technology ties with India, but it acquired real momentum under Joe Biden with the unveiling of the initiative on critical and emerging technologies (iCET) under the NSAs of the two sides. There has been speculation about whether the mechanism will survive, in what form, and which issues get prioritised remains. But the signal from the ministers suggests that issues that fall within iCET’s ambit as well as in the regular bilateral defence cooperation will remain a key basket of cooperation.
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On energy, India had stepped up its share of gas purchases from the US in the first Trump term and there is a possibility that it may do so again, as a signal to the US about India’s intent to bridge the trade deficit and support the American economy. The two countries have also been quite intensively discussing the issue of nuclear energy, with the Biden administration removing restrictions on three Indian nuclear entities, the Indian side expressing openness on its nuclear liability framework, and small modular reactors emerging as the next big hope in the field.
The issues Rubio flagged
But the State Department also flagged two other issues and attributed it to Rubio rather than to both leaders, indicating the priority it had for the US side. “Secretary Rubio also emphasized the Trump Administration’s desire to work with India to advance economic ties and address concerns related to irregular migration.”
The framing on economic ties is open-ended. It may have involved discussions on trade issues, especially given how central tariffs have been to Trump’s agenda, or investment-related issues. The president’s executive order on trade leaves room open for departments to consider trade deals, and Rubio’s more positive and forward leaning framing of the issue appears to indicate possibilities of progress.
On illegal immigration, which the State Department phrased as irregular migration in contrast to how the Republican political set up phrases the issue, the tone once again was not recriminatory but indicative of a desire to work together. Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that the two countries had been working together and identified 18,000 undocumented persons that India had indicated a willingness to take back. In an interview to HT, Trump’s last NSA Robert O’Brien had said that if India on its own offered to take back immigrants, it would be considered a big sign of goodwill.
When the two leaders came out for a photo, on the seventh floor of the State Department building, in front of India and US flags that obscured a portrait of Colin Powell in the backdrop, Rubio and Jaishankar did not answer questions. But the timing of the meeting, and the hints from the statement, indicate that ties between India and the US are likely to deepen even as both find ways to deal with the more challenging issues discreetly, their preferred mode during the photo-op.
