PM Modi gets invite to White House, holds talks with Marco Rubio

NEW DELHI: US secretary of state Marco Rubio on Saturday invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit the White House in the near future on behalf of President Donald Trump, as the two sides sought to reinforce strategic ties amid tensions over trade and immigration.

“India and the US will continue to work closely for the global good,” Modi posted on X after his meeting with Rubio here. He said they discussed “sustained progress” made in the proposed India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership and “issues related to regional and global peace and security."

During the meeting, Rubio emphasised that the US will not allow Iran hold the global energy market hostage and affirmed that US energy products have the potential to diversify India’s energy supply, the US State Department said in a readout.


The two sides reflected upon recent bilateral achievements, including significant investments that advance the president and prime minister’s “Mission 500” to double trade by 2030, it said.

Both agreed to deepen trade and defence cooperation and accelerate collaboration on critical and emerging technologies, according to the readout. Officials said they discussed trade, defence cooperation, energy security, technology and Indo-Pacific strategy.

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Later, speaking at an event, Rubio described India as central to the US’ Indo-Pacific strategy and announced a new “America First” visa schedule that will prioritise business professionals.

Testing Times
The new visa system is aimed at strengthening economic and strategic ties, he said. Rubio’s visit from May 23-26 comes at a sensitive moment in bilateral ties, with disagreements persisting over trade negotiations, US visa and immigration rules that have impacted several Indians working or looking to work in the US, and renewed ties between US and Pakistan.

While talks for a trade deal remains inconclusive so far, the Section 301 investigations by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), which target sectors critical to Indian exports, AI, and renewable energy have also further plunged the trade tensions into turmoil.

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Ties between New Delhi and Washington further cooled over the Trump administration's new green card policy, announced on Friday by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which mandates that those living in the US who wanted to transition to a green card were to complete the process through a US embassy or consulate outside the country, “except in extraordinary circumstances.”

Though some of the rules under the new green card directive were later softened, they continue to incur backlash over the great deal of uncertainty that green card aspirants in the US will now face over it.

US ambassador to India, Sergio Gor, meanwhile, hailed Rubio’s meeting with Modi, adding that the two sides held “productive” talks on critical technologies and to keep the status quo in the Indo-Pacific.

On Sunday, Rubio will hold bilateral talks with his Indian counterpart before Quad Foreign Ministers meeting here on Tuesday.