US-India: A balance is not easy to achieve.

For Foreign Secretary Marco Rubio during his recent visit to India, bilateral diplomatic activities were considered more important and prioritized over the four-way summit with his counterparts from the Quad group (comprising the US, Japan, Australia, and India).

Mr. Rubio arrived in India at a time when relations between the two countries were at their worst in decades. This was due to high levels of protectionist tariffs imposed on India by US President Donald Trump, and US sanctions against Russia on energy exports. Meanwhile, Moscow is New Delhi's most important traditional energy supplier. The US and India have long had a strategic partnership. Therefore, it is not surprising that India has valid reasons to distrust the US and question the true value of this strategic partnership.

Foreign Secretary Marco Rubio speaks during his visit to India.

Photo: Reuters

Against this backdrop, Rubio traveled to India on a "firefighting" mission to limit further damage to bilateral relations. The US had to do this because President Trump was facing numerous difficulties and impasses, both domestically and internationally, and urgently needed to achieve some results in his presidency. Trump had just received a warm welcome in China but did not achieve any significant results. Therefore, partners like India became far more important to the US than ever before.

It's difficult, but Rubio still has to try to create a balance for Washington in its relationship with New Delhi. This balance is between continuing the protectionist trade war with India and leveraging India's influence on world politics . It's between preventing New Delhi from continuing to import energy from Moscow and enlisting New Delhi's support in confronting Moscow. It's between separating India from China and urging India to improve relations with Pakistan. Achieving this balance and restoring mutual trust is difficult, so Rubio's mission has yet to succeed.

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