US state secretary Marco Rubio meets PM Modi, delivers Donald Trump’s invite to visit US in ‘near future’ | India News

NEW DELHI: After the roller coaster of the past 12 months, the US and India looked to steady the relationship with secretary of state Marco Rubio calling on PM Narendra Modi on Saturday and delivering an invitation from President Donald Trump to visit the US “in the near future”.According to a US readout, as the two sides discussed the situation in West Asia, Rubio emphasised that America would not let Iran hold the global energy market hostage and said that US energy products had the potential to diversify India’s energy supply.Speaking at a US embassy event later, Rubio, who will participate in the Quad foreign ministers’ meeting on Tuesday, said the relationship with India was “at the cornerstone of our approach to the Indo-Pacific”.The announcement about the invitation was made by US ambassador Sergio Gor, who accompanied Rubio to what he described as a “productive” discussion with Modi on ways to deepen cooperation across security, trade and critical technologies — areas that strengthen “both our nations and advance a free and open Indo-Pacific”.While India is open to the idea of Modi travelling to the US, it’s learnt that govt will wait to hear more about the possible dates. Modi is likely to travel to Florida for the G20 summit in Dec. Officials were tight-lipped about what the invitation might mean for the Quad summit, for which Tr-ump’s presence in India is long awaited. The Indian readout didn’t mention the invitation.“Happy to receive the US Secretary of State, Mr. Marco Rubio. We discussed sustained progress in the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership and issues related to regional and global peace and security. India and the United States will continue to work closely for the global good,” said Modi in a post on X.“India is a vital partner to the United States,” said Gor in a post on X after the meeting. Rubio said he also discussed energy and efforts to secure supply chains with Modi.According to an Indian readout, Rubio also briefed Modi about the US’s perspective on regional and global issues. It said Modi reiterated India’s consistent support for peace efforts and its call for peaceful resolution of conflicts through dialogue and diplomacy. Rubio’s visit is taking place amid efforts to secure a US-Iran peace agreement and the threat of imminent US military action should this fail. The Indian readout also said Rubio briefed Modi on the “sustained progress in bilateral cooperation” across a wide range of sectors, including defence, strategic technologies, trade and investment, energy security, connectivity, education and people-to-people ties.Rubio began his India visit in Kolkata, before arriving in Delhi for the meeting with Modi in the afternoon. His bilateral meeting with external affairs minister S Jaishankar is scheduled for Sunday.At the US embassy event, he recalled his first assignment as secretary of state was a meeting of Quad foreign ministers. “And we were going to renew that. We wanted to do it here, not just because of our commitment to that structure of work, but also as a tangible sign of what an important role India plays in the US, and in our posture, and in our approach to the Indo-Pacific,” he said, adding this commitment was anchored in the relationship between Modi and Trump.“The connection between leaders is incredibly important. These are two very serious leaders that are focused not just on the short term, but on the long term,” Rubio added, underlining the significance of the $20 billion investment commitment from Indian companies in the US and the deepening of security partnership through military exercises in Indo-Pacific.