'No warmth in readout': Ex-foreign secretary decodes Jaishankar-Rubio meeting in US

Former Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal on Tuesday reacted to the meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, calling it "odd" that the US official's readout focused heavily on trade and energy, rather than broader foreign policy issues.

"Odd. Rubio is putting the focus on trade-related issues, not foreign policy," Sibal wrote on X. "No diplomatic warmth in the readout. Compare with his previous readouts." He questioned the emphasis on pharmaceuticals, saying, "Why pharmaceuticals? How is this in Rubio's remit unless Trump is planning to use another pressure point." 

Rubio, who met Jaishankar on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) high-level week in New York, had tweeted that the two discussed "key areas of our bilateral relationship, including trade, energy, pharmaceuticals, and critical minerals and more to generate prosperity for India and the United States."

While Rubio emphasised trade and energy in his statement, Sibal took issue with the absence of any reference to critical aspects of the strategic India-US relationship, including the broader partnership, the Quad, or the Indo-Pacific region. He remarked: "No reference to strategic partnership, defining (or a toned-down 'key' or 'important') partnership of the 21st century, Quad, Indo-Pacific etc. Sign of the times." 

He also questioned the US focus on energy, suggesting it was related to contentious issues like India's ongoing purchase of Russian oil and Washington's pressure on New Delhi to increase imports of US LNG and oil. "Energy covers India's purchase of Russian oil and US pressure on us to buy more LNG/oil from the US," Sibal added, pointing out the growing geopolitical sensitivity surrounding India's energy ties with Russia.

While Rubio mentioned that the meeting covered issues related to energy and trade, the specifics of these discussions remained vague. Energy, particularly India's continued purchase of Russian oil, has been a point of contention between Washington and New Delhi. The US has repeatedly pressured India to reduce its reliance on Russian oil, with some US officials even threatening penalties or sanctions for such purchases. 

The meeting, which lasted for about an hour, was the first in-person talk between Rubio and Jaishankar amid tensions between the two countries over the last few months on trade, tariffs and New Delhi's purchases of Russian energy. The Trump administration imposed an additional 25 per cent tariff on New Delhi as a penalty for its purchases of Russian oil, taking the total levies imposed on India by the US to 50 per cent, among the highest in the world. Just days before the meeting, President Donald Trump signed a proclamation imposing a staggering USD 100,000 fee on new H1B visas.

A delegation led by Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal is in New York for meetings with the US side. The two countries had hoped to conclude the first tranche of a Bilateral Trade Agreement by October-November of 2025. The pact is aimed at more than doubling the bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030 from the current $191 billion.