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Rubio’s India visit shows US is putting energy and business before diplomacy

India must deal with Washington on equal terms, not as the world’s refinery.

In a striking departure from traditional diplomatic protocol, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio bypassed India’s political capital, New Delhi, during his official visit in October, heading straight to the financial hub of Mumbai and then to Reliance Industries Limited’s massive private oil refining complex in Jamnagar, Gujarat, making it the centrepiece of his visit. 

The unconventional itinerary signals a major pivot in Washington’s approach to India in particular and South Asia in general, reflecting a new US priority: raw economic pragmatism and energy security over standard political optics and diplomacy. This comes at a time when US-India relations face persistent friction over trade tariffs and visa restrictions. Unlike during his visit in May, when Rubio formally conveyed US President Donald Trump’s invitation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit the White House, this time there was neither a meeting with the PM nor a letter from Trump to hand over.

One cannot overlook the fact that Rubio’s October visit highlighted deep, systemic frictions in India-US bilateral ties, even if officials on both sides could dismiss these as the compulsions of a business trip. While public statements framed the diplomatic engagement as productive, the........

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