Rubio On the Ground — Meetings Underway

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio landed at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata early Saturday, May 23, according to AP News and NPR.

U.S. Ambassador to India Sergio Gor confirmed on social media that Rubio met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday in New Delhi. A bilateral sit-down with External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar is scheduled for Sunday. The main event — the Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting — takes place Tuesday, May 26, per India News Network and BusinessToday.

The visit spans four cities over four days: Kolkata, Agra, Jaipur, and New Delhi. The agenda, per State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott, covers energy security, trade, and defense cooperation.

Three Developments Most Coverage Missed

Most outlets are framing this as a simple "reset" visit. Three developments show why a reset became necessary.

First: The Adani factor. The DOJ dropped criminal charges against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani shortly before Rubio's arrival, according to India News Network. Adani had faced allegations of bribing Indian officials and misleading U.S. investors to secure a solar energy contract. His company denied the allegations. The charges were withdrawn after Adani committed to a $10 billion investment in the United States. AP, NPR, and ABC News did not report this. It's a significant detail for any analysis of a diplomatic repair mission, particularly given the DOJ's concurrent action on India's behalf.

Second: The Russian oil sanctions waiver. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent extended a sanctions waiver that allows continued purchases of Russian seaborne oil, according to India News Network. The waiver faced expiration. India has drawn pressure for buying discounted Russian crude — and Washington just relieved that pressure before Rubio's arrival. BusinessToday confirmed that U.S. tariffs on Indian imports had included "additional levies linked to India's purchase of Russian crude oil." Extending that waiver removes a specific point of friction.

Third: The tariff damage is real. BusinessToday reported that India's strategic establishment is "more cautious about Washington than at any point in recent years." Trump's tariff policies hammered Indian exports and pushed New Delhi deeper into its "multi-alignment" strategy — meaning India is deliberately avoiding dependence on any single partner. Rubio enters negotiations where the other side has already begun hedging its bets.

The Quad Is the Strategic Center

Tuesday's ministerial meeting is the focal point. The Quad — U.S., India, Japan, Australia — operates with one primary focus: China. The alliance has been compared to an "Asian NATO" and has conducted joint military exercises across the Indo-Pacific, per India News Network.

Beijing predictably characterizes the Quad as an attempt to "contain its economic growth and influence." China's documented behavior in the South China Sea explains why the Quad exists.

Rubio has prioritized the Quad since taking office. His first formal international engagement after taking office in January 2025 was meeting Quad foreign ministers — both jointly and separately, according to NPR. The choice signals strategic commitment.

What Experts Are Saying

Sadanand Dhume, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, told India News Network the trip aims to "repair" relations. Former Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran had flagged in late 2022 that bilateral ties were on a "plateauing trajectory." That trend continued under Trump.

Rubio said ahead of the trip that the U.S. is "ready to expand energy supplies to meet India's growing needs," per BusinessToday. The language amounts to a direct pitch for India to buy American LNG instead of relying on Russian crude. Whether New Delhi accepts remains unclear.

What This Means Practically

India is a 1.4-billion-person economy with a growing middle class, a significant tech sector, and a military positioned between China and the Indian Ocean. Maintaining India's alignment with the U.S. — or preventing drift toward Beijing — represents a concrete national security interest.

If Rubio emerges from Tuesday's Quad meeting with a strengthened joint stance on China's South China Sea aggression, it matters. If he secures even a partial trade deal that shields India from tariffs while they purchase American energy, that also matters.

But progress on any front depends on Washington acknowledging the relationship damage and recognizing the concessions already made before Rubio's arrival.

Watch Tuesday.