Why Marco Rubio’s visit to Mumbai has ruffled feathers in India

United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio is to sojourn India successful the coming week, but helium volition not acceptable ft successful the capital, New Delhi.

Instead, connected Monday, Rubio volition clasp talks with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar successful Mumbai, India’s fiscal hub, and past sojourn an lipid refinery successful Jamnagar successful the occidental authorities of Gujarat, according to a connection from the US Department of State.

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His itinerary sparked a governmental tempest aft the US ambassador to India said Washington expected Jaishankar to question to conscionable Rubio, prompting absorption leaders to impeach the authorities of allowing India’s apical diplomat to beryllium “summoned” connected location soil.

The spat comes arsenic relations betwixt the 2 countries are strained implicit trade, tariffs and India’s purchases of Russian oil.

So wherefore is Rubio avoiding New Delhi, and wherefore has it caused specified upset? Here’s what you request to know:

What is Rubio doing successful India?

He plans to sermon trade, vigor and investment.

Rubio is arriving connected Sunday from Samarkand, Uzbekistan, wherever helium has been gathering with 5 Central Asian states astatine the C5+1 summit.

In India, helium is owed to conscionable elder officials to sermon the US-India strategical concern and vigor practice and clasp talks with concern leaders, the State Department said.

Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal appeared to corroborate the agenda, stating connected Friday that the Mumbai talks would screen energy, commercialized and investment, defence, and captious and emerging technologies.

In Jamnagar, Rubio is to sojourn the world’s largest single-site refinery, operated by billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries, and be a reception hosted by the Ambani family, according to The Hindu newspaper.

Rubio and his wife, Jeanette Rubio, look with Ambassador to India Sergio Gor, besides the US peculiar envoy for South and Central Asia, astatine the Taj Mahal successful Agra, India, connected May 25, 2026 [Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Pool via Reuters]

Why isn’t Rubio going to New Delhi?

No authoritative crushed has been given.

Rubio was successful the Indian superior successful May for a gathering of overseas ministers of countries successful the Quad, a radical consisting of the US, India, Japan and Australia.

The State Department has framed his upcoming travel astir vigor and investment, and the 2nd halt connected Rubio’s India visit, Jamnagar, is 1 of the world’s astir important vigor hubs.

The sojourn besides comes arsenic substance prices wound successful the US earlier adjacent month’s midterm elections.

Reliance, an energy, retail and telecommunications conglomerate, besides sits astatine the centre of Washington’s wider lipid diplomacy.

Business Standard, an Indian fiscal daily, said the Jamnagar halt was important due to the fact that Reliance is the biggest purchaser of Venezuelan crude oil too the US astatine a clip erstwhile Washington has been urging India to bargain more.

Since US forces seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro successful January and took indispensable power of the country’s lipid industry, the US authorities has marketed Venezuelan lipid to buyers abroad.

Reliance is besides investing successful a caller refinery successful Texas, the archetypal to beryllium built successful the US successful 50 years, which Trump hailed arsenic a $300bn woody erstwhile helium announced it successful March, Business Standard reported.

Villagers beryllium extracurricular the Jamnagar refinery, tally by the Indian concern conglomerate Reliance Industries, successful Jamnagar, India [File: Manish Swarup/AP]

What did the US ambassador say, and wherefore has it caused upset?

Speaking astatine the Bloomberg New Economy Forum successful New Delhi connected Thursday, US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor said Rubio would conscionable Indian authorities officials successful Mumbai, and Washington “expected” Jaishankar and others from New Delhi to question determination to spot him.

Earlier successful the week, however, Jaiswal had not confirmed the travel oregon explained wherefore Rubio was skipping New Delhi, telling reporters the Indian authorities would denote it “at the due time”, The Hindu paper reported.

Jairam Ramesh, a wide caput of the absorption Indian National Congress party, wrote connected X that the ambassador’s connection was “quite extraordinary”.

Rahul Gandhi, person of the absorption successful parliament’s little house, besides took to X to comment, penning connected Friday that Rubio had “summoned his worker to Mumbai”.

Congress MP Pawan Khera went further.

“A overseas authorities summoning India’s External Affairs Minister connected Indian ungraded is simply a caller low, adjacent by the Modi Government’s standards,” helium wrote connected X, referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Why are US-India relations strained?

Mainly due to the fact that of Trump’s tariffs and Russian oil.

In August past twelvemonth aft a circular of commercialized talks broke down, the US deed astir Indian goods with a 50 percent tariff. Under a model the 2 sides agreed successful February, that complaint fell to 18 percent, however.

Since then, negotiations person stalled.

This month, Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the talks had “plateaued”, according to The Hindu.

On Thursday, Trade Minister Piyush Goyal said the “first tranche” of a woody was successful its last stages but India would not motion until its exporters had an borderline implicit rivals specified arsenic Bangladesh, Vietnam and Indonesia, according to the Reuters quality agency.

Other points of friction person emerged.

Last week, US Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling announced that his section was suspending 8 companies – including the Indian IT giants Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro and HCL – from a labour certification strategy that is simply a cardinal measurement for employers seeking greenish cards for their overseas staff.

Sameer Lalwani, a elder chap successful the South Asia Program astatine the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, wrote this week that Indian nationalist sentiment of the US has deed a grounds low, citing US engagement with Pakistan and the US-Israel warfare connected Iran, which helium said had pushed India backmost towards Russian oil.

Despite that, helium argued, defence and exertion practice has softly deepened, and bilateral commercialized grew by astir 12 percent successful 2025 to astir $240bn.

In his view, “perceptions of the governmental narration person deteriorated faster than its strategical foundations.”

A sanctions instrumentality had threatened to marque matters worse.

Last month, Trump signed the Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, which could enforce tariffs of up to 100 percent connected goods from the 5 largest importers of Russian lipid oregon gas.

India, 1 of the world’s biggest buyers of Russian oil, had warned Washington that caller tariffs could wounded bilateral ties. Trump signed an enforcement bid seeking to waive the sanctions connected Friday arsenic helium tries to easiness precocious lipid prices earlier the November 3 US elections.