Marco Rubio Meets Jaishankar in Mumbai, Eyes Trade Deal, Hails Strong Strategic Ties

United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Mumbai for high-level bilateral discussions. The meeting, which lasted over 30 minutes, focused on advancing the strategic partnership between India and the United States across energy, trade, investment, defence, and critical technologies. Rubio highlighted that India is the world's most populous nation, largest democracy, and an important commercial and Quad partner. Addressing bilateral negotiations, he expressed optimism that a trade deal could be finalised shortly, with only a small number of items remaining to wrap up. Rubio also paid tribute to the 26/11 terror victims ahead of the talks, which come amid background frictions over visa restrictions and tariff issues.