Foreign & Public Diplomacy

Welcome to Foreign Policy’s South Asia Brief.

The highlights this week: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrapped up a four-day visit to India aimed at repairing bilateral ties, Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal leads a 100-member trade delegation to Canada, and Sri Lanka’s central bank hikes its main interest rate amid the Iran war.

Welcome to Foreign Policy’s South Asia Brief.

The highlights this week: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrapped up a four-day visit to India aimed at repairing bilateral ties, Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal leads a 100-member trade delegation to Canada, and Sri Lanka’s central bank hikes its main interest rate amid the Iran war.

Rubio’s Charm Offensive in New Delhi

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio concluded a four-day trip to India on Tuesday. At first glance, it seems like a productive trip. He held a series of high-level engagements, including meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, resulting in what Rubio described as an Indian pledge to purchase $500 billion in U.S. goods over the next five years.

Rubio included a bit of cultural diplomacy in his agenda, with side visits to Kolkata, Jaipur, and the Taj Mahal in Agra. Back in New Delhi on Tuesday, he participated in a foreign minister level summit of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, which led to a joint statement pledging cooperation in areas ranging from maritime security to critical minerals.

Yet Rubio’s visit underscored a disconnect in U.S.-India relations: Washington seems to be more sanguine about the state of bilateral ties than New Delhi is, and it is not sufficiently concerned about a large trust gap between the two capitals.

U.S.-India relations plunged into crisis early in U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term because of new U.S. tariffs, harsh White House criticism of India’s economy, U.S. immigration policy, anti-India rhetoric from some Trump supporters, and Trump’s embrace of Pakistan.

Despite all this, the relationship has somewhat stabilized: The White House has stopped its criticism of India, and a new framework trade deal has lowered U.S. tariffs. Sergio Gor, the U.S. ambassador to India and a close Trump confidante, arrived in New Delhi in January seemingly on a mission to repair........

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