Rubio Meets India's Foreign Minister in Mumbai, Presses on Energy and Trade Deal

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio held talks with India's Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar in Mumbai on Tuesday as the two countries seek to deepen energy cooperation and move closer to finalizing a trade deal, after negotiations that had stalled for months. Rubio is also set to meet business leaders, including Asia's two richest men, Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani. The State Department said Rubio told Jaishankar that more energy trade with the U.S. could help diversify India's supply chains, praised progress in defense and civil nuclear cooperation, and urged India to buy more U.S. technologies and systems. Rubio called India a "refining superpower" and said Venezuelan crude could give short-term relief to energy markets strained by the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. He was expected to tour Reliance's refinery, the world's largest, on Wednesday. Ties have been strained by India's large purchases of Russian oil, though Washington this week waived sanctions on buyers of Russian oil and gas.

Right-leaning outlets led with the agenda of trade, terrorism and Russian oil, relying on State Department statements and Rubio's press conference remarks, and Breitbart read the message as urging India to buy American oil and arms instead of Russian. Alternative outlets split: Semafor focused on the push to refine Venezuelan crude ahead of U.S. midterms, while AP reported the talks and the stalled trade deal. Left-leaning coverage, in the New York Times, emphasized strained relations and the meetings with Asia's richest men. All sides agree on the Mumbai visit and the trade and en