United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio is to visit India in the coming week, but he will not set foot in the capital, New Delhi.
asserted
he → visit → capital
Instead, on Monday, Rubio will hold talks with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in Mumbai, India’s financial hub, and then visit an oil refinery in Jamnagar in the western state of Gujarat, according to a statement from the US Department of State.
uncertain
Rubio → hold → State
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options → lift → stalemate
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His itinerary sparked a political storm after the US ambassador to India said Washington expected Jaishankar to travel to meet Rubio, prompting opposition leaders to accuse the government of allowing India’s top diplomat to be “summoned” on home soil.
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diplomat → press → soil
The spat comes as relations between the two countries are strained over trade, tariffs and India’s purchases of Russian oil.
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relations → come → oil
So why is Rubio avoiding New Delhi, and why has it caused such upset?
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it → avoid → upset
Here’s what you need to know:
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you → ’ → what
What is Rubio doing in India?
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Rubio → do → India
He plans to discuss trade, energy and investment.
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He → plan → trade
Rubio is arriving on Sunday from Samarkand, Uzbekistan, where he has been meeting with five Central Asian states at the C5+1 summit.
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he → arrive → summit
In India, he is due to meet senior officials to discuss the US-India strategic partnership and energy cooperation and hold talks with business leaders, the State Department said.
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Department → meet → leaders
Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal appeared to confirm the agenda, stating on Friday that the Mumbai talks would cover energy, trade and investment, defence, and critical and emerging technologies.
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talks → appear → energy
In Jamnagar, Rubio is to visit the world’s largest single-site refinery, operated by billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries, and attend a reception hosted by the Ambani family, according to The Hindu newspaper.
uncertain
Rubio → visit → newspaper
Why isn’t Rubio going to New Delhi?
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Rubio → go → Delhi
No official reason has been given.
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reason → give → ?
Rubio was in the Indian capital in May for a meeting of foreign ministers of countries in the Quad, a group consisting of the US, India, Japan and Australia.
uncertain
Rubio → consist → US
The State Department has framed his upcoming trip around energy and investment, and the second stop on Rubio’s India visit, Jamnagar, is one of the world’s most important energy hubs.
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stop → frame → hubs
The visit also comes as fuel prices bite in the US before next month’s midterm elections.
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prices → come → elections
Reliance, an energy, retail and telecommunications conglomerate, also sits at the centre of Washington’s wider oil diplomacy.
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Reliance → sit → diplomacy
Business Standard, an Indian financial daily, said the Jamnagar stop was significant because Reliance is the biggest buyer of Venezuelan crude oil besides the US at a time when Washington has been urging India to buy more.
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Washington → say → more
Since US forces seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January and took essential control of the country’s oil industry, the US government has marketed Venezuelan oil to buyers abroad.
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government → seize → buyers
Reliance is also investing in a new refinery in Texas, the first to be built in the US in 50 years, which Trump hailed as a $300bn deal when he announced it in March, Business Standard reported.
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Standard → invest → March
What did the US ambassador say, and why has it caused upset?
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it → say → upset
Speaking at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in New Delhi on Thursday, US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor said Rubio would meet Indian government officials in Mumbai, and Washington “expected” Jaishankar and others from New Delhi to travel there to see him.
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Jaishankar → speak → him
Earlier in the week, however, Jaiswal had not confirmed the trip or explained why Rubio was skipping New Delhi, telling reporters the Indian government would announce it “at the appropriate time”, The Hindu newspaper reported.
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newspaper → confirm → time
Jairam Ramesh, a general secretary of the opposition Indian National Congress party, wrote on X that the ambassador’s statement was “quite extraordinary”.
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statement → write → X
Rahul Gandhi, leader of the opposition in parliament’s lower house, also took to X to comment, writing on Friday that Rubio had “summoned his employee to Mumbai”.
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Rubio → take → Mumbai
Congress MP Pawan Khera went further.
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Khera → go → ?
“A foreign government summoning India’s External Affairs Minister on Indian soil is a new low, even by the Modi Government’s standards,” he wrote on X, referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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he → summon → Modi
In August last year after a round of trade talks broke down, the US hit most Indian goods with a 50 percent tariff.
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US → break → tariff
Under a framework the two sides agreed in February, that rate fell to 18 percent, however.
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rate → agree → percent
Since then, negotiations have stalled.
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negotiations → stall → ?
This month, Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the talks had “plateaued”, according to The Hindu.
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talks → say → Hindu
On Thursday, Trade Minister Piyush Goyal said the “first tranche” of a deal was in its final stages but India would not sign until its exporters had an edge over rivals such as Bangladesh, Vietnam and Indonesia, according to the Reuters news agency.
uncertain
exporters → say → agency
Other points of friction have emerged.
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points → emerge → friction
Last week, US Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling announced that his department was suspending eight companies – including the Indian IT giants Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro and HCL – from a labour certification scheme that is a key step for employers seeking green cards for their foreign staff.
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that → announce → staff
Sameer Lalwani, a senior fellow in the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, wrote this week that Indian public opinion of the US has hit a record low, citing US engagement with Pakistan and the US-Israel war on Iran, which he said had pushed India back towards Russian oil.
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he → write → oil
Despite that, he argued, defence and technology cooperation has quietly deepened, and bilateral trade grew by almost 12 percent in 2025 to nearly $240bn.
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trade → argue → 240bn
In his view, “perceptions of the political relationship have deteriorated faster than its strategic foundations.”
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perceptions → deteriorate → foundations
A sanctions law had threatened to make matters worse.
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matters → threaten → ?
…and 3 more, not listed.
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