US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to India next week with energy cooperation, commercial investment and the strategic partnership on his agenda. The stops are Mumbai and Jamnagar, the Gujarat home of Reliance Industries.
Rubio will visit Mumbai and Jamnagar from October 17 to 22, the US Department of State said on Tuesday. It is his second official India visit this year.
The agenda
According to the State Department, Rubio will meet senior government officials to strengthen the U.S.-India strategic partnership and exchange views on regional and global dynamics. He will discuss prospects for enhanced energy cooperation, and meet business leaders to promote commercial investment and economic cooperation.
Jamnagar and Reliance
The choice of Jamnagar points to energy as the centerpiece. The city houses Reliance Industries’ refinery, the world’s largest single-site refining complex. That makes it a natural stop for a Secretary of State who has spoken about selling India more oil. In May, Rubio said the United States would be looking to find ways to sell India more oil.
The State Department has not said whom Rubio will meet in Jamnagar or whether the stop includes a Reliance meeting or a tour of the refinery. Mumbai, India’s financial and corporate capital, is where the business-leader meetings are most likely to take place.
Rubio will reach India after a stop in Uzbekistan. In Samarkand he will take part in the C5+1 Ministerial and lead a US commercial delegation of more than 200 business leaders.
Rubio’s first India trip, in May, covered Kolkata, Agra, Jaipur and New Delhi. It came as Washington sought to stabilize relations that had soured over President Donald Trump’s tariff policies. In February, the two countries reached a framework for an interim trade agreement to cut tariffs on Indian goods from 50% to 18%. Half of that reduction was tied to India’s purchase of Russian oil, which is contentious given US sanctions on Russia. Energy purchases therefore sit close to the center of the trade relationship.
