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  "path": "/partner/rubio-renews-ties-with-india",
  "publishedAt": "2026-05-23T14:31:54.000Z",
  "site": "https://nukta.com",
  "textContent": "\n\n\n\nUS Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Saturday, inviting him to visit the White House and reaffirming the importance of US-India ties.\n\nThe visit came just days after Rubio joined President Donald Trump in Beijing, raising questions in New Delhi about Washington's priorities in Asia.\n\n### Why is Rubio visiting India and what does it mean for US-India relations?\n\nRubio's New Delhi stop is widely seen as an effort to repair ties that have cooled under Trump. He met Modi for more than an hour, with the State Department saying the relationship was \"rooted in our shared democratic values\" and economic opportunity. Cutting the ribbon on a new wing of the US embassy, Rubio called the building a \"sign of our commitment to this important relationship.\"\n\n\"This important relationship between our two countries is at the cornerstone of our approach to the Indo-Pacific,\" Rubio said.\n\nThe positive statements come after Trump shook up core assumptions in US foreign policy, including its emphasis on building a stronger partnership with India, which received barely a mention in his administration's national security strategy last year.\n\nDuring his Beijing visit, Trump hailed President Xi Jinping's reception and spoke of a \"G2\" framework for US-China relations, a formulation that unsettled US allies who fear being sidelined in Washington's dealings with China.\n\n### How did Rubio begin his India visit?\n\nRubio, a devout Catholic, opened his four-day, four-city tour in Kolkata, where he visited the headquarters of Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity and prayed over her tomb. Wearing a yellow garland over his suit, he smiled before an assembly of nuns in their signature white and blue saris, accompanied by his wife Jeanette.\n\nSister Marie Juan told reporters Rubio \"spoke about aiding the homeless, terminally ill and those afflicted by leprosy\" during his hour-and-a-half-long visit.\n\nThe choice of first stop carried symbolic weight. While Trump rarely raises human rights, parts of his political base have expressed concern over the treatment of Christians under Modi's Hindu nationalist government. Rights groups say attacks on minority Christians, including vandalism of churches, have risen since Modi came to power in 2014, though the Indian government rejects those claims as exaggerated and politically motivated.\n\n### What else is on the agenda for Rubio's India trip?\n\nBefore leaving on Tuesday, Rubio will attend a meeting of foreign ministers from the Quad, the grouping of Australia, India, Japan and the United States. He also plans to pitch greater US oil sales to India, whose fast-growing economy depends heavily on energy imports. India has been rattled by the US-Israeli attack on Iran, which retaliated by choking off the Strait of Hormuz and sending global oil prices soaring.\n\n### How does the Pakistan factor complicate US-India ties?\n\nThe conflict has also seen Pakistan re-emerge as a significant US partner, complicating Washington's relationship with India. Pakistan's army chief flew to Tehran on Friday as part of ongoing mediation efforts between the US and Iran, underscoring Islamabad's growing diplomatic role. Trump has warmed noticeably to Pakistan, which praised his diplomacy during its short war with India last year and welcomed a cryptocurrency firm owned by the US president's family.\n\nModi irritated Trump by not crediting him with ending that war, which began after India struck Pakistan following the massacre of mostly Hindu civilians in Indian-administered Kashmir. The United States had long prioritized its relationship with India over Pakistan as a strategic partner in Asia, but Trump's shifts have unsettled those assumptions. India has historic ties with Iran and a growing relationship with Israel, which Modi visited just days before the war broke out on February 28.",
  "title": "Rubio renews ties with India after Trump's China lovefest"
}