He arrived in the eastern city of Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) in the morning local time. His busy itinerary also includes visits to Delhi, Jaipur and Agra. He is also due to meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with energy likely to be high on the agenda.

Energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz - a narrow shipping lane that has become a flashpoint since Israel and the US attacked Iran in February - have virtually ground to a halt. Iran has used the closure of the strait as a pressure tactic in the fragile peace negotiations with the US. India, which imports more than 80 percent of its energy needs, is one of the worst affected countries as its vast population of more than 1.4 billion depends on overseas fuel supply, including cooking gas and petroleum products, to sustain daily life.

Rubio has already acknowledged the challenges facing Asia's third largest economy. "We want to sell them [India] as much energy as they'll buy. And obviously, you've seen, I think, we're at historic levels of US production and US export", he said. There will be an appetite in Delhi to boost its energy imports from the US as it will also help bridge the trade deficit that has been in India's favour - something that has constantly irked President Donald Trump. The US goods trade deficit with India was USD 58.2bn in 2025, a 27.1 percent increase over 2024.

But it's not a straightforward solution. It's a much longer and expensive route for India to get energy shipments from the US. And analysts say it is not logical for India to fill the current shortfall in its imports from the US. "Energy security is going to be the key theme of this visit because the Iran situation is not going to be resolved anytime soon. The US has already given a waiver to India on buying Russian oil, but Delhi is likely to push for more concessions", Vineet Prakash, associate professor of US studies at Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University, said.

Rubio's visit also comes under the shadow of prolonged tensions between Delhi and Washington over trade negotiations and conflicting claims on who settled the brief India-Pakistan conflict last year. While Trump has repeatedly claimed that he brokered peace between the neighbours, Delhi has consistently denied it with its stated policy of not welcoming a third party to mediate between the nuclear-armed nations in South Asia. (BBC)