Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held wide ranging talks on strengthening cooperation in sectors such as trade, energy security and critical technologies and also discussed the West Asia situation in a meeting on Saturday, the government said.

Rubio, who is on a four-day visit to India amid the West Asia crisis that is shaking up the global economy, arrived in Kolkata on Saturday morning. He visited Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity before flying to Delhi.

“Happy to receive the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. We discussed sustained progress in the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership and issues related to regional and global peace and security,” Modi posted on social media platform `X’.

US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor joined Rubio in his meeting with Modi. “We had a productive discussion on ways to deepen US-India cooperation across security, trade and critical technologies - areas that strengthen both our nations and advance a free and open Indo-Pacific. India is a vital partner to the US,” Gor stated in his post on `X’.

The Secretary will attend the Quad Foreign Ministers’ meeting, hosted by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, on Monday. Foreign Ministers of Japan and Australia have also confirmed their attendance.

Jaishankar will hold bilateral talks with Rubio on Sunday with the focus expected to be on energy security, trade and defence cooperation, as indicated earlier by the US State Department.

Prior to his travel, Rubio had said that the US was prepared to increase energy exports to India. “Well, we want to sell them (India) as much energy as they’ll buy…we’re at historic levels of US production, and US export…We want them to be a bigger part of their portfolio,” he said addressing reporters.

In his talks with Jaishankar and other officials, Rubio is also likely to push for progress in the India-US bilateral trade agreement (BTA) talks that will give greater market access in India to US exporters of industrial and agricultural goods.

New Delhi is watching the tariff situation in the US at the moment as it is still evolving following US courts striking down certain additional tariffs, including reciprocal tariffs imposed by the Trump regime on imports.

The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz triggered by the US and Israel conflict with Iran, that has created immense pressure on economies such as India heavily dependent on the maritime route, is also expected to come up for discussion.

“Secretary Rubio briefed Prime Minister on the sustained progress in bilateral cooperation across a wide range of sectors, including defence, strategic technologies, trade and investment, energy security, connectivity, education and people-to-people ties,” per a statement issued by the PMO.

Rubio also shared US perspective on various regional and global issues, including the situation in West Asia, it said.

Prime Minister reaffirmed India’s consistent support for peace efforts and reiterated the call for peaceful resolution of the conflicts through dialogue and diplomacy.

The US Secretary of State will also visit Agra and Jaipur during his visit.

Published on May 23, 2026