The ongoing visit of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has brought fresh optimism in Indo-US relationship after a year-long strain. The proverbial icing on the cake was US President Donald Trump’s live call during an event to mark 250 years of American Independence at the US Embassy in New Delhi where he (Trump) said, “India can count on me 100 per cent...”
The timing of Rubio’s visit to India is important. Trump returned from his China trip just about a week ago. Rubio had accompanied Trump during his China visit. The two countries, despite their perennial mutual mistrust, appeared to be coming closer, causing Trump to describe the relationship as “G-2” (the Great Two, the US and China).
Trump, unlike during his first term, has been quite cold, rather hostile, towards India. It apparently started when India rejected his claims of facilitating the truce with Pakistan during the May 2025 brief military confrontation. Trump wanted India to acknowledge his role and nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize, which he is desperately seeking but India declined to do. The consequences were punitive 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
Correspondingly, the US under Trump grew closer to Pakistan. So much so, he would describe Pakistan’s hawkish military chief Asim Munir as his “favourite field marshal”, whom he specially hosted for lunch in the White House. Munir has taken a hostile position against India. Just about a week before the Pahalgam terror attack, Munir while addressing non-resident Pakistanis had clearly spelt out his hostile agenda towards India and Hindus.
It is in this backdrop of mistrust that Rubio visited India, obviously to improve relationship with long-time strategic partner. His visit, coming in the immediate aftermath of Trump’s China visit, will hopefully seek to assuage certain concerns, which have grown in India. Till a year ago, India was the preferred strategic partner of the US in the region, while China and Pakistan were looked at with deep suspicion. During the last one year, Trump reversed the situation, seeking alliance with China and Pakistan while overlooking India’s concerns.
Also read: US Secretary of State Rubio arrives in India for his 4-day visit
That Rubio specifically spelt out that the US relation with Pakistan will not be at the cost of India was aimed at rebuilding the trust and confidence. Trump’s live call in the middle of the celebrations and what he said are quite important. “I love India… I love the Prime Minister. Modi is great. He’s my friend, and I just want to say a very, very good evening to everybody this morning here, and this evening there. And I just want to say, you’re great. We’ve never been closer to India, and India can count on me 100 per cent and our country… We have a record economy, a record stock market. And anything India wants, they get. And I’m a big, big fan of Prime Minister Modi.” Given Trump’s unpredictability and the record of the last one year, it will take time before everyone starts trusting Trump once again.
There could not be a better person to rebuild and reinforce the mutual trust between the US and India than Secretary Rubio. He happens to be a great friend of India much before he assumed the role of the Secretary of State. His speech during the Sunday event revealed his fondness for India.
“We know that so much of what we achieved in our history has been built in partnership with other countries around the world, with whom we share so much. And one of those relationships that I am so excited about going into… given the challenges and the opportunities of this new era, is India. It’s one of those countries I know that we have this very valuable strategic partnership with, and we share so many values and so many common interests,” he was quoted as saying, adding, “if I think about all of the key issues and all of the key opportunities of the modern economy, India and the US together are… perfectly positioned to work together on these issues to achieve a better life for the people of the United States, for the people of India, and frankly, for the people of other countries working together as well.”
In July 2024, Rubio, as Senator introduced the US-India Defence Cooperation Act in the senate that sought to treat India on par with US allies like Japan, Israel, Korea and NATO countries, regarding technology transfers, support India in its response to growing threats to its territorial integrity and bar Pakistan from receiving security assistance if it is found to have sponsored terrorism against India.
“Communist China continues to aggressively expand its domain in the Indo-Pacific region, all while it seeks to impede the sovereignty and autonomy of our regional partners. It’s crucial for the US to continue its support in countering these malicious tactics. India, along with other nations in the region, is not alone,” Rubio said after he introduced the bill. The bill was referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Since it was introduced at the fag end of the Congress’ term that ended in January 2025, it lapsed.
Under the US Congressional rules, bills that are not passed by the end of a Congress effectively lapse and must be reintroduced in the next Congress to proceed further.
Having become the Secretary of State himself, Rubio is definitely in a much better position to strengthen the Indo-US relationship, although much will depend on President Trump. One thing India can be assured of is that there could not have been a better US Secretary of State for India, than Rubio.
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