Marco Rubio’s Mumbai visit ruffles feathers in India as New Delhi is skipped

A visit without New Delhi

Rubio is expected in India in the coming week for meetings with senior officials on the US-India strategic partnership and energy cooperation, the State Department said. He is also due to hold talks with business leaders.

The itinerary does not include New Delhi. Rubio visited the capital in May for a meeting of foreign ministers from the Quad, which includes the United States, India, Japan and Australia.

Jamnagar stop draws attention

In Jamnagar, Rubio is scheduled to visit the world’s largest single-site refinery, run by Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries, and attend a reception hosted by the Ambani family, The Hindu reported. Business Standard said the stop matters because Reliance is the largest buyer of Venezuelan crude oil besides the United States, as Washington urges India to buy more. The company is also investing in a Texas refinery, described by President Donald Trump in March as a $300bn deal.

Opposition objects to arrangements

The political dispute followed remarks by the US ambassador that Washington expected Jaishankar to travel to meet Rubio. Opposition leaders said the arrangement risked making India’s top diplomat appear to have been summoned on Indian soil.

Rahul Gandhi, leader of the opposition in parliament’s lower house, wrote on X that Rubio had “summoned his employee to Mumbai”. He called the prospect of a foreign government summoning India’s external affairs minister “a new low”, referring to the Modi government.

Trade and energy pressures

US Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling announced that eight companies, including Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro and HCL, were suspended from a labour certification scheme used by employers seeking green cards for foreign staff. The visit comes as fuel prices weigh on the United States ahead of next month’s midterm elections. India, a major buyer of Russian oil, had warned that new US tariffs could damage bilateral ties; Trump signed an executive order on Friday seeking to waive the sanctions as he tries to ease oil prices before the November 3 US elections. The report also said defence and technology cooperation had deepened and bilateral trade rose almost 12 percent in 2025 to nearly $240bn.