Jaishankar-Rubio Delhi Meet Today: Defence, Trade, Indo-Pacific & Quad Talks On Agenda | Top Details

Added: 2026-05-24

[00:00:00]Let's in the meantime talk about the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio who currently is in India. It's the second day of his India visit and of course after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday. First he landed in Kolkata and thereafter he went to New Delhi to meet the prime minister and there was a reception in the evening as well that was held. Now all said as far as the crucial bilateral that would be held today with external affairs minister Dr. SJ Shankar this is expected at around 11 at the Hyderabad house. Now the discussions are expected to focus on energy security, trade, defense and critical technology. Shay, now we're going to talk business with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

[00:00:40]>> Yes. And the relationship with America is such that there are a lot of issues to discuss. Now you rightly said let's say defense. Now there are even in defense there is so much to be done. The Americans have agreed to uh sell India 31 MQ9 drones. They will be coming soon.

[00:01:03]Uh that's already uh happening. But the Americans want the Indians to have the striker armored vehicle. India is not that keen. Uh America wants India to have number a large number of javelins.

[00:01:18]India has bought a limited quantity of this anti-tank weapon but is not very keen to buy many more. So there is talk about other issues as well. There are lots of things on the agenda and we have to see what happens in defense.

[00:01:34]Similarly as far as energy is concerned there America wants India to have its crude oil. Now under the circumstances that's quite a good idea because there is a problem with crude oil visav the straight of hormones being closed and also natural gas. Now those are two issues that will certainly come up. Of course Iran will come up. Of course Gaza will come up. Of course the uh the Ukraine Russia issue will come up. Those things will definitely come up as will also China. So all of this apart, there are bilateral issues, there are economic issues. You've got yourself an interim deal. Now what happens? Uh yes, Sergio Gd, the US ambassador has said, well, it took the Europeans 19 years and we will do it in weeks and months. So the question is when? And what will be the actual stuff on the ground when you do the deal? What who gains, who loses, who benefits? All of that has to be worked out. So there's a lot that has to be done.

[00:02:44]>> Yes. With Dr. Shankar at Hyderabad House, then it is being said that the Quad foreign minister's meeting that would be also happening. But we want to give our viewers a quick recap to enjoy what all has happened since the time that Marco Rubio the US Secretary of State on his official and the first visit to India. And this is something where he mentioned yesterday that it's very hot here in India as well. Well, of course, even when it comes to the temperatures in the national capital have gone up to beyond 43°. But what has happened in that meeting that happened between Marco Rubio and Prime Minister Narendra Modi? It seems that uh you know he's extended an invitation on behalf of President Trump to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Washington to visit him in Washington. And this is the first visible course correction a reset of ties between US and India uh that he seems to have you know when it comes to on this very closest aid and envoy of President Trump that he right now is in India also to induce a sense of positivity to the ties he said to have briefed the prime minister on the growing momentum of the India US cooperation across a board of strategic landscape and what is being said that discussions also happened spanning defense collaboration emerging technologies trade investment energy security connectivity initiatives uh there is also also when it comes to education partnership and expanding people-to-people ties between the two countries. That seems to be the key takeaways. Let's in the meantime also talk about what Marco Rubio said after the meeting with the prime minister Narendra Modi last evening.

[00:04:06]>> This relationship between our two countries is at the cornerstone of our approach to the endoacific. I a lot of people aren't aware of this or you know but I was sworn in as secretary of state on Tuesday or Wednesday. It was a Tuesday after the inauguration. Within the hour, I was at the State Department, spoke briefly, as is tradition in the lobby of that building to our staff and then went immediately upstairs to the eighth floor. And my first meeting, my very first meeting officially as Secretary of State was a meeting of the quad and we were going to renew that. We did it again last year in a second in a different setting and we're and we chose to do it here. We wanted to do it here not just because of our commitment to that structure of work but also as a tangible sign of what an important role India plays in the United States and in our posture and in our approach to the Indoacific because the relationship between the president and the prime minister. It's a personal relationship that dates back to the first administration when the president had a chance to visit here and it has carried over into this second administration. Um and and you can just see the connection between them and I think that's incredibly important. It is the connection between leaders is incredibly important. These are two very serious leaders that are focused not just on the short term but on the long term and um and so I I think that uh that that is important to note because it's at the it's a key part of the foundation of the relationship between our countries and it is at the cornerstone of this important partnership between us and India which as I said is an incredibly important one and it's the reason why I'm here in this visit to reaffirm those ties to build upon them and we think in the months ahead we're going to have even more exciting and new announcements to make about the development and the strengthening of the relationship between the two countries and all of you will be at the forefront of that.

[00:05:50]>> So strengthening ties between India and the US and let's talk about what has happened in a span of one year. Lot that has been undone lot has been built as well in the last 25 years of our relationship especially when it comes to diplomacy and also at the time when two nations were walking on a very tight robe uh courtesy Trump tariffs. Now let's talk about when it comes to the top five challenges that uh the relationship between Washington and Delhi has faced and especially when it comes to the quad grouping that's going to happen the foreign minister's meeting and ahead of that expected summit of its leaders later this year in Delhi. So so far it is not confirmed if President Trump will be attending the summit or whether uh you know it will be going ahead. Second challenge of course when it comes to India wanting to boost its own energy imports and the US however is an option but the energy shipments all the way from the US is much longer and very costlier. It's much more expensive route for India to undertake. Another challenge is that US Iran war. Marco Rubio is said to have convened conveyed to Prime Minister Modi that Washington would not allow Iran to hold global energy markets hostage. However, India also has close relations with Iran and is somewhere managing when it comes to the release of multiple of its ships carrying energy and crude oil. Let's also talk about another challenge because after the interim trade agreement in February, the two sides are now locked in in fierce negotiations over the final text of the broader bilateral deal which no side wants to emerge to be on the losing side. Another challenge is that of the Pakistan factor. Now uh President Trump's open affection and praise for the Pakistani army chief hasn't gone down well with India. And of course when it comes to the continuous way that Pakistan wants to project as far as cozing up to Pak you know the United States of America well its role as a so-called messenger itself is being questioned by some within the Trump administration.

[00:07:32]Interestingly the US secretary of state Marco Rubio has hinted at progression in talks over a possible peace deal with Iran and Rubio says and I quote that there has been some progress made. The issue needs to be solved as the president says that one way or the other Iran can never have a nuclear weapon.

[00:07:47]Now the straits also need to remain open without any tolls and they need to hand over their highly enriched uranium and these have been consistently been president's points his preference is always a deal with this diplomatic ally on to resolving such issues through a negotiated solution.

[00:08:04]So all that and much more of course when it comes to his second day in here in India is concerned there will be bilateral talks much more meetings that are lined up at the Hyderabad house. Of course, we'll be standing by for all the updates.