US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in India on Saturday for a four-day, four-city visit, his first to the country, aimed at reinforcing ties with a key strategic partner, just one week after President Donald Trump’s high-profile summit with China.
Rubio began his tour in Kolkata, where he spent an hour and a half at the headquarters of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity. He prayed over her tomb and met with assembled nuns dressed in the late humanitarian’s signature white and blue saris. Sister Marie Juan told reporters that Rubio spoke about aiding the homeless, the terminally ill, and those afflicted by leprosy. “He was happy to pray and we were also happy to have him,” she said.
US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor, himself a Catholic, noted afterwards that the visit reflected a relationship built “not only on strong policies, but also on shared values.”
Modi Meeting and the Quad
Rubio then flew to New Delhi, where he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Before departing on Tuesday, he will also attend a Quad foreign ministers’ meeting, bringing together Australia, India, Japan, and the United States in a grouping widely seen as a counterweight to China’s influence in the Indian Ocean region.
The visit carries additional weight given Trump’s recent diplomatic gestures toward Beijing. During last week’s state visit to China, Trump praised President Xi Jinping and described a US-China “G2” partnership, language that unsettled many American allies. Consequently, Rubio’s presence in New Delhi serves as a reassurance to India.
The choice of Kolkata as a starting point was notable. Rights groups report a rise in attacks on minority Christians in India since Modi’s government came to power in 2014, though New Delhi rejects those claims as exaggerated.
Meanwhile, Trump has drawn closer to Pakistan, India’s traditional rival, following Islamabad’s praise of his diplomacy during last year’s brief India-Pakistan conflict. Ahead of the trip, Rubio described India as a “great ally, great partner” and said Washington sought to expand US oil sales to the energy-hungry nation.
