New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is set to hold a bilateral meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Mumbai, as the latter is skipping New Delhi during his second visit to India this year from 20 October.
Rubio will visit Mumbai and Jamnagar, as the US is seeking to expand its economic engagement with India. Jamnagar is home to Reliance Industries’ refinery, which is the world’s largest single-site complex, that can process some 1.4 million barrels of crude oil per day.
“Several issues of a bilateral nature will be discussed,” said Randhir Jaiswal, the official spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs Wednesday, when questioned on the agenda of Rubio’s visit.
Jaishankar is expected to meet Rubio in Mumbai, with the US mission there also likely to celebrate the 250th year anniversary of American independence.
Rubio’s visit to Jamnagar assumes further significance, as the US administration in March announced a $300 billion new refinery in Texas funded by Reliance Industries. The new refinery project when completed will be the first in almost five decades in the US.
The oil refinery in the US is Reliance’s second project outside of India, following a partnership with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company to build a $2 billion petrochemicals plant in the United Arab Emirates, first announced in 2021.
“The Secretary will then travel to India for his second official visit this year. He will meet with senior government officials to strengthen the U.S.-India strategic partnership, exchange views on regional and global dynamics, and discuss prospects for enhanced energy cooperation,” the US statement on Rubio’s visit published Wednesday said.
The US has been pushing India to purchase more American energy, with US President Donald Trump going so far as to penalise New Delhi with 50 percent tariffs last August. The high tariffs were partly due to India’s energy partnership with Russia.
More recently, the US Congress passed the Senator Lindsey O’ Graham Act, which allowed Trump to impose penalties up to 100 percent on countries purchasing oil from Russia and Iran. India is the second largest buyer of Russian crude globally.
Jaiswal Wednesday reiterated that India has “communicated its concerns” with the US over the new law. Meanwhile, Trump announced a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin last Friday to see 300,000 tonnes of diesel to flow into the US and global markets, as the US deals with high diesel prices.
The deal would see up to 500,000 tonnes of Russian diesel flow into global markets in November and eventually be extended to 1 million tonnes.
Jaiswal refused to comment on the US-Russia deal, maintaining that India supports any move to “stabilise” global energy markets. The bilateral trade agreement may figure in discussions between Jaishankar and Rubio, with the Indian External Affairs Minister asserting that the two countries have arrived at “landing points” in the negotiation.
The deal has been stuck since the two countries announced a joint framework in February, as the US Supreme Court struck down the tariff architecture established by the Trump administration. New Delhi is waiting how the new architecture will take shape, and wait to gain a comparative advantage before finalising the deal.
Another issue that may be discussed is the US’ recent action to block a number of Indian technology companies including TCS, Wipro and Infosys from the permanent labour certification programme (PERM).
Last week US Vice President JD Vance accused eight companies including Indian IT firms and US giants Microsoft and Adobe of abusing the H-1B visa system to replace American workers with foreign workers.
Vance likened the scheme to bringing “indentured servants” to the US, which was strongly rebuffed by India last week. The PERM is a key step for a foreign worker to move from a H-1B visa to permanent residency in the US.
Rubio had earlier visited New Delhi in May. During his earlier visit a meeting of the Quad Foreign Ministers was also held, with the foreign ministers of Japan and Australia in attendance.
Before arriving in India, Rubio will travel to Samarkand, Uzbekistan on 17 October and hold meetings with officials from the various Central Asian countries. It should be noted that the US Ambassador to India, Sergio Gor, is also the Special Envoy for South and Central Asia, and has been engaging with the various Central Asian countries such as Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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