PM Modi holds talks with Rubio during US Secretary’s maiden India visit

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Sewa Teerth in New Delhi on Saturday during his maiden visit to India.

Rubio arrived in India on Saturday for a four-day visit that includes participation in a meeting of Quad foreign ministers.

Rubio began his trip in Kolkata, where he visited the headquarters of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity and prayed at her tomb.

Wearing a yellow garland over his suit, Rubio, accompanied by his wife Jeanette, smiled as he met nuns dressed in the late humanitarian’s signature white and blue saris during what marked his first-ever visit to India.

“Rubio spoke about aiding the homeless, terminally ill and those afflicted by leprosy,” Sister Marie Juan of Missionaries of Charity told reporters after his hour-and-a-half-long visit.

“He was happy to pray and we were also happy to have him,” she added

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Kolkata on Saturday morning, starting his first official visit to India. pic.twitter.com/8W2vSLwMUV

— Firstpost (@firstpost) May 23, 2026

Sergio Gor, the US ambassador to India and also a Catholic, later said the visit reflected a relationship based “not only on strong policies but also on shared values”.

Quad talks

Following the Kolkata visit, Rubio travelled to New Delhi, where he was scheduled to meet PM Modi.

Before departing on Tuesday, Rubio is also expected to attend a gathering of foreign ministers from the Quad alliance, comprising Australia, India, Japan and the United States.

The grouping is widely viewed as a strategic counterweight to China’s growing influence in the Indian Ocean region.

China has repeatedly criticised the Quad and previously accused India of participating in efforts aimed at containing Beijing.

The visit follows Trump’s China outreach

Rubio’s visit comes shortly after
President Donald Trump’s state trip to China last week, where he praised the reception he received from Chinese President Xi Jinping despite limited concrete outcomes from the summit.

During his visit to Beijing, Trump referred to the United States and China as a “G2”, a phrase that had largely fallen out of use in recent years amid concerns among US allies about being sidelined in Washington’s dealings with Beijing.

Energy and regional tensions in focus

Ahead of the trip, Rubio described India as a “great ally, great partner” and said Washington would explore opportunities to sell more oil to the country.

India’s rapidly expanding economy relies heavily on energy imports and has faced growing concerns following the US-Israeli attack on Iran and Tehran’s subsequent move to choke off the Strait of Hormuz, a key global shipping route that pushed oil prices higher.

India maintains longstanding ties with Iran while also strengthening relations with Israel. Modi had visited Israel just days before the outbreak of the conflict.