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On Saturday (May 24), US secretary of state Marco Rubio arrived in Kolkata on the first leg of his four-day visit to the country. The centrepiece of the visit is a meeting of the Quad foreign ministers in New Delhi on Tuesday (May 26). There is little doubt as one American commentator put it, that the visit is a “repair mode” operation aimed at reviving bilateral ties “that appear to be rudderless after decades of progress.”

The visit comes immediately after the landmark US-China summit which is moving towards a significant reset of relations between the two countries from a position of antagonistic relations to peaceful cooperation and stability. This has implications for India, whose ties with the US have been framed in terms of their common cause to check an assertive China.

The bilateral leg of the visit, which included official level talks and a dinner, appeared to be somewhat defensive as Rubio insisted that though the US and India had a “strategic alliance”, American actions on trade and visas were not targeted at India but part of a larger domestic shift, that included a modernisation of its immigration system. In their talks, the two sides discussed a scaling up of energy, defence and critical minerals cooperation even while waiting for an interim trade agreement which is under discussion.

Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty.

There was also a performative edge to the occasion in a major social event to mark the 250th year of American independence held at the Bharat Mandapam facility. The highlight of the event was an appearance by Donald Trump via video where he lavished praise on Modi “I love the Prime Minister, Modi is great, he’s my friend and I just want to say good evening to everybody.” He went on to add that “We’ve never been closer to India and India can count on me 100% and on our country” adding, “If they ever need help, they know where to call – they’ll call right here.”

It is unlikely that the Rubio visit by itself can achieve the goal of reassuring India when it is known that the principal architect of US global policy is president Donald Trump and notwithstanding his over-the-top words on Sunday (May 24) evening, there is no real evidence that the Americans will be specially helpful to India.

For the past two decades, India-US relations have been framed in idealistic terms as a natural alliance of two great democracies bound by a commitment for mutual benefit. However, the past year of the........

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