U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the Trump administration is working towards President Donald Trump’s visit to India in the early part of next year, underscoring the growing momentum in India-U.S. ties as the two countries move closer to concluding a bilateral trade agreement.

In an exclusive interview with IANS at the White House, Mr. Rubio said he expected to travel to India before the end of the year to prepare for the President’s visit.

“I look forward to returning myself before the end of the year and setting up a Presidential visit in the early parts of next year,” Mr. Rubio said.

Asked if Mr. Trump’s visit could take place next year, Mr. Rubio replied: “We’re hoping. That’s what we’re working towards sometime early next year to have the President come.”

Mr. Rubio said the India-U.S. relationship was in a strong position following the recent meeting between Mr. Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G7 Summit.

“I think it’s going fantastic. I mean, it’s very strong,” he said. “We had a great meeting with the Prime Minister. The President did at the G7.”

The Secretary of State also expressed optimism about the ongoing trade negotiations between the two countries.

“We’re hoping to finalise a trade deal. We’re on the last inches of getting it done, and it’s very positive,” he said.

Mr. Rubio said Washington was also looking forward to another meeting of the Quad leaders in the near future.

“We look forward to re-engaging again in another Quad meeting very soon,” he said.

Describing India as one of America’s closest partners, Mr. Rubio said: “India is such a close partner and ally of the United States, and the relationship between the Prime Minister and the President couldn’t be closer, which I think is really important in diplomacy.”

President Trump last visited India in February 2020, when he and Prime Minister Modi addressed the “Namaste Trump” rally in Ahmedabad before holding bilateral talks in New Delhi.

Since returning to office, Mr. Trump and Mr. Modi have maintained regular engagement as both governments seek to deepen cooperation across trade, defence, technology and the Indo-Pacific.

The United States and India are also key partners in the Quad, alongside Japan and Australia, with the four nations expanding cooperation on regional security, critical technologies, resilient supply chains and maritime security. Both Washington and New Delhi have described their partnership as one of the defining strategic relationships of the 21st century.

PM Modi leading India’s global rise: Rubio

Mr. Rubio praised Mr. Modi’s leadership, saying he has steered India through remarkable economic progress and helped position the country as an increasingly influential global power.

Mr. Rubio said the Trump administration held PM Modi in high regard and viewed India as one of America’s closest strategic partners. “We are enormous fans of Prime Minister Modi and what he’s done,” Mr. Rubio said.

“He leads a country that’s making incredible gains economically and is really coming into its own as a global power, a country that’s increasingly accounted for on decisions being made on the global stage.”

Mr. Rubio said India’s growing global influence had further strengthened the partnership between New Delhi and Washington.

“India is such a close partner and ally of the United States, and the relationship between the Prime Minister and the President couldn’t be closer, which I think is really important in diplomacy,” he said.

The Secretary of State said the shared values and interests of the two democracies provided a strong foundation for expanding cooperation across multiple sectors.

“These are the largest democracies in the world and the oldest democracy in the world,” Mr. Rubio said. “I think we have so much aligned and in common that we can build and work on together.”

He identified economics, supply chains, critical minerals, energy, security and freedom of navigation as areas where the two countries were deepening cooperation.

“These are all issues that bind us together. We’re aligned on so many things,” Mr. Rubio said.

He also highlighted the contribution of the Indian-American community to the relationship. “You have a very strong Indian American community as well, which is an additional link between our countries,” he said.

When told that he was popular among Indian Americans, Mr. Rubio responded: “Oh, good. I’m glad to hear that. I appreciate that very much. It’s a community that’s enriched our country in many ways.”

India and the United States have significantly expanded their strategic partnership over the past two decades, with cooperation extending from defence and trade to critical technologies, energy and the Indo-Pacific. Successive governments in the U.S. have described the relationship as one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century.

Published – June 27, 2026 05:05 pm IST

President Donald Trump speaks during an event about drug prices, on November 6, 2025, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington.
| Photo Credit: AP

S. Jaishankar
| Photo Credit: ANI

Ahead of his visit to Washington, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said that the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump, which he will attend, could have “profound consequences for the global order”, spelling out some of the challenges and opportunities India could face over the next four years.

“Today, we may well be on the cusp of a new era,” Mr. Jaishankar said at a lecture in Mumbai on Saturday. “One where the United States departs from an established tradition of foreign policy and focuses on its own interests, rather than in shaping the world itself… Where the focus is more on the compulsions of competition rather than on observance of regimes,” he said, indicating that the incoming Trump administration would pose the biggest challenge globally to the prevailing rules-based order, which could affect India on trade and immigration issues in particular. 

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As a result, Mr. Jaishankar’s five-point agenda during the Washington trip, his third visit to the U.S. in the past six months, will be to set the course for an intense engagement with the Trump administration, beginning with an early meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mr. Trump. That could come as early as next month, as Mr. Modi will travel to Paris for the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Summit at the Grand Palais, where Mr. Trump has been invited, or subsequently on a visit by Mr. Modi to the U.S. in the next few months. During the first Trump term in 2017, Mr. Modi had visited Washington and met with him within a few months of his inauguration.

The next agenda point for Mr. Jaishankar will be to set a date for the Quad summit in India later this year. “The Quad Foreign Ministers (Australia, India, Japan) are expected to be in Washington, D.C. for the inaugural ceremony of President Trump,” spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Randhir Jaiswal announced on Friday. A formal Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting can only be held once the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, that has scheduled its next meeting on Monday, confirms Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio’s appointment, but Mr. Jaishankar is expected to discuss dates for the Quad summit with his counterparts. On Saturday, U.S.-based The Wall Street Journal reported that Mr. Trump had told advisors that he wanted to travel to China early in his tenure, and was also considering a visit to India. Ahead of such a visit, all eyes will be on who Mr. Trump appoints as his Ambassador to India, as Eric Garcetti, a political appointee during the Biden administration, will step down on Tuesday.

In contrast to his strong rhetoric against China during his campaign, and his nomination of a number of China-hawks to his Cabinet, Mr. Trump has made a number of overtures to Chinese President Xi Jinping in recent weeks, including inviting him to the inauguration, and speaking to him over the telephone on Friday in what he called a “very good” call for China and the U.S. “It is my expectation that we will solve many problems together, and starting immediately,” Mr. Trump announced on social media. “President Xi and I will do everything possible to make the World more peaceful and safe!” he added, and the visit to Washington by Chinese Vice President Han Zheng for the inauguration, will also be watched for talks on Mr. Trump’s plans to impose high tariffs on China. Mr. Trump’s threats of “reciprocal” duties on Indian products will also be tested in the next few weeks.

In addition, Mr. Trump’s plans to begin his tenure with a series of ‘Executive Orders’, including ordering mass deportations and raids on “day one” as outlooked by his ‘border Czar’ Tom Homan, will be watched closely during Mr. Jaishankar’s visit. According to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Fiscal Year 2024 Annual Report released in December, there are about 17,940 Indian nationals out of a total of 1.4 million on the “final removal orders” list, and 2,647 Indians are amongst those immigrants already in detention centres, making them the fourth-largest group by nationality, following Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala.

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Finally, Mr. Jaishankar’s delegation’s meetings with Trump advisors, including billionaire Elon Musk, will be watched for announcements on their engagement with India. Mr. Musk, who has been negotiating with the Indian government for tax waivers for electric vehicle plants for his company Tesla, as well as on regulations dealing with SpaceX and Starlink and social media platform X, cancelled a much-anticipated visit to India in April 2024. Meeting a group of Indian business leaders led by the U.K.-based India Global Forum (IGF) in Texas on Friday, Mr. Musk “expressed optimism about the future of US-India relations, advocating for lower trade barriers to increase commerce between the two nations”, a statement by the IGF said.