US state secretary Marco Rubio to visit Mumbai, Jamnagar next week amid India-US trade deadlock

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Mumbai and Jamnagar next week to hold talks with senior Indian officials on strengthening bilateral ties, energy cooperation and investment, amid a prolonged deadlock in trade negotiations between the two countries.

Rubio will first travel to Samarkand in Uzbekistan to participate in the C5+1 Ministerial. He will also hold bilateral talks with senior officials from all C5 countries (Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and the Kyrgyz Republic).

The top US diplomat will then visit India will be his second official trip to the country this year.

Rubio will meet senior government officials to discuss the strategic partnership, exchange views on regional and global developments, and explore prospects for enhanced energy cooperation. He will also meet business leaders to promote commercial investment and economic cooperation, the statement said.

His visit to Jamnagar is likely to draw attention to energy ties, as the Gujarat city houses Reliance Industries' refinery complex, the world's largest single-site refining facility, with a capacity to process around 1.4 million barrels of crude oil per day.

In March, US President Donald Trump announced that the United States would build its first new oil refinery in 50 years with investment from Reliance Industries.

The visit comes at a time when India and the US are yet to resolve differences over a proposed bilateral trade agreement, despite several rounds of negotiations.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently said the talks were still underway but both sides may have reached a point where further concessions could be difficult.

"The agreement negotiations are still ongoing, although we'd like to believe that both the sides have reached a plateau beyond which giving or taking might be very, very difficult. But maybe if there are rooms to operate from, both sides would do it," she said at the Munich Leaders Meeting.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal last month said the trade pact was "done and dusted", but its execution was awaiting a competitive advantage for Indian exporters over their rivals.

India competes with countries such as Bangladesh, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia and Sri Lanka in several US markets.

A preferential tariff arrangement for Indian goods compared with these competitors would improve the price competitiveness of domestic exporters.

The US is India's largest export destination and second-largest trading partner. India's merchandise exports to the US were valued at around USD 87.3 billion in 2025, while bilateral merchandise trade stood at nearly USD 141 billion.