Marco Rubio is skipping New Delhi. The US Secretary of State will land in Mumbai on Sunday, bypassing the capital entirely for his second trip to India in six months. He’s heading straight to the financial hub to meet External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, then flying to Jamnagar in Gujarat to tour the world’s largest single-site refinery.
The decision has ignited a firestorm in Indian politics. With US-India relations already tense over trade tariffs and Russian oil purchases, the logistics of this visit are being framed as a diplomatic snub. It’s not just about where Rubio lands; it’s about who has to move to meet him.
The “Summoned” Diplomat
The friction started when US Ambassador Sergio Gor told the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in New Delhi that Washington “expected” Jaishankar to travel to Mumbai. Opposition leaders didn’t let that slide. Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition in parliament’s lower house, took to X, mocking the arrangement by saying Rubio had “summoned his employee to Mumbai.” Pawan Khera, a Congress MP, called it a “new low,” arguing that a foreign government shouldn’t dictate where India’s top diplomat meets on home soil. “It’s humiliating,” one senior opposition source told Al Jazeera, noting the lack of protocol respect.
Energy Over Politics
Why Mumbai and Jamnagar? The answer is oil. Rubio is visiting Reliance Industries, the conglomerate led by billionaire Mukesh Ambani. Reliance is a massive buyer of Venezuelan crude, a key part of Washington’s strategy to offload oil following the recent seizure of President Nicolas Maduro. The US also wants to secure a $300bn investment deal for a new Texas refinery. With US midterm elections looming next month and fuel prices biting, Rubio needs these deals. New Delhi is the political center, but Jamnagar is where the money is. The State Department says the agenda covers trade, energy, and critical technologies, but the optics suggest business is taking precedence over statecraft.
Source: Al Jazeera
This article was compiled by the IndiaBBCNews editorial system from verified international news sources. Facts have been independently reviewed. Original reporting: Al Jazeera.
