The United States works with many countries at a “tactical” level, but those relations will not disturb the strategic partnership with India, said U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in New Delhi on Sunday (May 24).
Addressing a joint press conference at the Hyderabad House lawns, Mr. Rubio said the idea of a “free and open Indo-Pacific” goes beyond the Indo-Pacific to other “international waters” and accused Iran of blocking the Strait of Hormuz while sponsoring proxy terror groups.
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Speaking on the occasion, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar acknowledged the disruption to supply chains because of the U.S.-Israel war on Iran and said that both India and the U.S. have “very strong interest” to ensure “safe and unimpeded maritime commerce”.
“As far as our relations with other countries, yeah, we have relations, and we work at the tactical level, for example, and in many other ways with countries all over the world. So does India. That’s what responsible nation states do, but I don’t view our relation with any country in the world as coming at the expense of our strategic alliance with India…,” he said. Mr. Rubio was responding in the press conference to a question on the Pakistan-U.S. ties that are being discussed worldwide because of the prominent role that Pakistan has been playing in bringing the conflict in the Gulf to a pause.
Mr. Rubio, who arrived in India for a four-day visit on Saturday, held a day-long meeting with Mr. Jaishankar and other officials of the Indian side that included Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, in which energy, bilateral trade, and visa issues for skilled Indian workers were among the items discussed.
Mr. Rubio’s visit to India is the first by a senior U.S. official since the war on Iran was launched on February 28 with a decapitating strike that killed Ayatollah Khamenei and his close family members alongside several top military figures of Iran. The U.S. and Israel had described “regime change” in Iran as the aim of the war at that time. Mr. Rubio, however, claimed that the war had “clear goals” and accordingly, the U.S. military campaign has destroyed Iran’s navy and “long-range” missile capability, saying “Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon”.
While giving early hints about a U.S.-Iran diplomatic solution that would formally pause the current Gulf war, Mr. Rubio accused Iran of sponsoring “proxy groups of terrorists” and called Tehran the “world’s leading sponsor of terrorism”. He focused on the chokehold that Iran has sustained on the Strait of Hormuz from the beginning of the war in an asymmetric retaliatory move, triggering a global energy crisis that has hurt growing economies, including India.
“And look what they’re doing now. They are holding hostage civilian vessels, including ships that have now been stuck in the Persian Gulf. They’ve laid mines in an international waterway. And yet, despite all of that, the United States remains committed to finding a peaceful, diplomatic solution to this crisis,” said Mr. Rubio. Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi, who visited New Delhi earlier this month for the BRICS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, had said the Strait of Hormuz falls within the territorial waters of Iran and Oman and that “there is no international waters in between.”
The visiting dignitary and Mr. Jaishankar both referred to the challenges that have emerged in the energy market in recent months and sought an end to the stalemate. ”We are working on having an open Strait of Hormuz without tolls,” Mr. Rubio said, contradicting Iranian officials who had claimed in Delhi that Iran would start charging money from the transiting ships for the services that it provides in the Strait.
Mr. Jaishankar outlined India’s varied interests covering strategic and energy domains. India is among “very few countries” that have “very strong relations” with the U.S., Israel, Iran and the Gulf countries, he said. However, he cited the “current situation in Hormuz’ and said that to deal with the prevailing risks, it is necessary to diversify India’s energy supplies. “Where India is concerned, look, this is an era of de-risking and probably energy, more than anything else, requires de-risking… A big country, if you are to do de-risking, looks at multiple sourcing, and for us, the United States has emerged as a very significant and reliable source of energy, as indeed have some other countries.”
Responding to a question on the Trump administration taking a tough line on trade relations with India, Mr. Rubio said it was not aimed at India alone and that it was a general trade policy that the Trump administration came up with to counter the “outsourcing-based” economy of previous U.S. administrations.
Mr. Rubio started his visit by landing in Kolkata, where he paid tributes at the Missionaries of Charity that was founded by the Nobel Laureate Mother Teresa, and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He invited him to the United States on behalf of President Donald Trump. He thanked the diplomatic staff and U.S Ambassador Sergio Gor and said, “India has committed to purchasing $500 billion in U.S. goods over the next five years, focusing on energy, technology and agriculture.” Mr. Rubio also met with National Security Adviser Ajit Doval. The U.S. Embassy announced on Sunday evening that the meeting “focused on counterterrorism cooperation, regional stability, and strengthening U.S.-India strategic coordination in the Indo-Pacific.”
He will next visit Agra and Jaipur and return to Delhi for the Quad Ministerial Meeting, where he and Mr. Jaishankar will be joined by Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong on May 26.
Published – May 24, 2026 11:50 pm IST
