US reassures India amid expanding ties with Pakistan: Marco Rubio calls India ‘key strategic ally’

The United States is working to reassure India that its renewed strategic engagement with Pakistan under President Trump will not diminish the historic and important partnership between Washington and New Delhi. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasized, ahead of critical meetings with India’s Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar at the ASEAN summit, that America’s evolving ties with Pakistan are part of a “mature, pragmatic foreign policy” aimed at maintaining relationships with multiple countries for collective gains. Rubio stressed that nothing the U.S. is doing with Pakistan comes “at the expense” of its friendship with India, which remains central to Washington’s Indo-Pacific strategy, especially as the two nations negotiate over trade, energy security, and Russia-related sanctions.