Exclusive
Trump, Xi, and a Defining Moment for the World Trump, Xi, and a Defining Moment for the World David Lapp on the Case Against Forcing Residential Consumers to Pay for Skyrocketing Data Center Costs David Lapp on the Case Against Forcing Residential Consumers to Pay for Skyrocketing Data Center Costs Elizabeth Burch on the Dark Side of the Tort Bar Elizabeth Burch on the Dark Side of the Tort Bar
Current Affairs

Rubio expected to brief New Delhi on Xi-Trump summit during India trip

When Marco Rubio was confirmed as US Secretary of State last year, fireworks of optimism went off in New Delhi. Given his years as a…

By Samantha Johnson / May 22, 2026
When Marco Rubio was confirmed as US Secretary of State last year, fireworks of optimism went off in New Delhi. Given his years as a senator championing a pro-India, staunchly anti-China posture, policymakers anticipated an unprecedented alignment.
However, as Rubio arrives in India on Saturday for a four-day visit spanning Kolkata, Agra, Jaipur and New Delhi, he enters a relationship strained by transactional politics, structural deadlock and mounting strategic unease over Washington’s recent moves.
While the Indian Embassy in Washington has hailed Rubio’s trip as a “new chapter” in bilateral ties, Rubio’s first visit to India as US President Donald Trump’s top diplomat and national security adviser is expected to focus largely on damage control.

Advertisement

That includes briefing Indo Pacific partner New Delhi on Trump’s high-stakes summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping earlier this month, an event that left India rather prominently on the outside looking in.

Trump to impose 25% tariff on India from August 1, plus ‘penalty’ for Russia ties

India received no such call. Instead, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government was left to parse a stark shift from the adversarial, anti-China posture India relied upon during the previous Joe Biden administration.

Don't Miss: