Marco Rubio to meet PM Modi after Kolkata visit: What’s on the cards — trade deal, energy imports, Quad Summit | Today’s news
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will begin his four-day, four-city visit to India as he lands in Kolkata, West Bengal on Saturday, May 23. Rubio’s visit comes as US-India relations have been strained by President Donald Trump’s tariffs and Washington’s renewed spat with New Delhi’s rivals Pakistan and China.
Rubio’s first visit to India is expected to include stops in Calcutta, Agra, Jaipur and New Delhi for talks on trade, energy and defense cooperation, the State Department said.
In Calcutta, America’s top diplomat, a devout Catholic, will tour the home of the late Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity.
Rubio is then scheduled to fly to Delhi, where he will meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi later on Saturday.
Will the trade deal be completed?
Rubio’s visit is expected to focus on a long-awaited trade deal after the US imposed some of the highest reciprocal tariffs on India and later partially lifted them.
In February, the two countries reached an “interim agreement framework” on trade to reduce Trump’s tariffs on Indian goods to 18% from a punishing 50%, half of which was linked to India’s purchases of Russian oil.
Read also | White House Fact Sheet: US-India Interim Trade Agreement to Cut Tariffs, Strengthen BTA
But talks to finalize the deal slowed after the US Supreme Court struck down Trump’s tariffs in late February.
This effectively reduced the tariff on Indian goods to 10%, but India was considering its options as the Trump administration conducted an investigation under unfair trade practices legislation that is widely expected to reinstate most of the previous charges.
A person familiar with the talks told Reuters that Washington was disappointed by India’s perceived reluctance and apparent belief that it could get a good deal without giving up much. And that mood likely clouded Rubio’s efforts to stabilize relations.
Richard Rossow of the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank told Reuters: “I don’t expect Secretary Rubio to have much of an impact on changing the downward trajectory.” He added that the absence of a trade agreement more than three months after the signing of the interim agreement will cast a shadow on other aspects as well.
Watch out for energy
During his visit to Sweden, Rubio called India a “great ally, a great partner” and said the United States would look for ways to sell it more oil.
India is largely dependent on fuel imports, and with Iran choking the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for US-Israeli attacks, is currently trying to ease the energy shock.
Read also | Fuel prices rise for third time in 10 days: Analysts warn of further increases
India has historic ties with Iran, but also a growing relationship with Israel, which Modi visited days before the war began in late February.
The conflict has also seen the re-emergence of Pakistan, which has positioned itself as a mediator, with its powerful army chief flying to Tehran on Friday.
Trump treated Pakistan after heaping praise on it for its role in ending a brief war with India last May. Pakistan has also welcomed a cryptocurrency firm owned by the US president’s family.
Meanwhile, Modi infuriated Trump by not crediting him with ending the war, and shortly after was slapped with punitive tariffs on India that were higher than what he had imposed on China.
Rubio’s deputy, Christopher Landau, said India’s rise should not come at the expense of US commerce and vowed not to repeat the “same mistakes” made by China.
Quad Summit vs China
Before leaving on Tuesday, Rubio is expected to attend a meeting of foreign ministers of the Quad – Australia, India, Japan and the United States – four democracies seen as a counterweight to China’s presence in the Indian Ocean.
India’s requests to the White House to schedule Trump’s visit to the Quad summit have so far gone unanswered, Reuters reported, citing another person familiar with the negotiations.
China has long been suspicious of the Quad and has reprimanded India for its participation in the past.
But Rubio’s trip comes as Trump shakes up traditional assumptions about US priorities — that he’s warming to China.
Trump made a state visit to China last week, where he referred to the US and China as the “G2”. Relations between the US and China have been on the hook since a “trade war” in 2018 due to fierce manufacturing competition and technological superiority.
But Trump’s recent visit to Beijing sought greater cooperation with China, with tech barons Elon Musk, Jensen Huang and Tim Cook accompanying the president on his visit. According to a White House press release, the U.S. and China have agreed to share resources of rare earth metals, which are critical to the production of semiconductor chips.
Read also | 200 Boeing planes, $17 billion farm imports: What Trump’s deal with China means
