{"id":1695,"date":"2026-05-26T18:08:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T18:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1695"},"modified":"2026-05-26T18:08:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T18:08:08","slug":"to-repair-ties-with-india-rubio-leans-into-pageantry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1695","title":{"rendered":"To repair ties with India, Rubio leans into pageantry"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Secretary of State Marco Rubio visits the Taj Mahal on Monday during his trip to India. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson\/Pool\/Reuters)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

NEW DELHI \u2014 In the span of four days, Secretary of State Marco Rubio lit prayer candles with the nuns of Kolkata, gripped hands with India\u2019s prime minister in New Delhi, toured the Taj Mahal in 100-plus degree heat and cheered on folk musicians performing <\/b>atop elephants in Jaipur.<\/p>

Read more Rosenqvist edges Malukas in record Indy 500 finish and Antonelli stays hot in F1<\/a><\/p>\n

The dizzying array of cultural and political events is aimed at mending a relationship with the world\u2019s largest democracy that has soured by dint of President Donald Trump\u2019s sweeping tariff agenda, overtures to China and high-profile embrace of archrival Pakistan, which India has long sought to isolate.<\/p>\n

The hurt feelings surfaced publicly on Rubio\u2019s second stop when an Indian journalist told him that Trump\u2019s second term has diverged from \u201c25 years of very significant progress in India-U.S. ties,\u201d introduced a \u201ctransactional\u201d approach to the relationship and sent \u201cmixed signals on Pakistan and China\u201d that left many in India feeling that momentum has been \u201clost.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a damage-control trip,\u201d said Husain Haqqani, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington.<\/p>\n

\u201cU.S.-India relations have really gone down as a result of a clash between Trump\u2019s vanity and Modi\u2019s pride,\u201d he added, referring to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.<\/p>\n

In recent years, Washington\u2019s investment in New Delhi reflected a bipartisan consensus that the United States needed India as a counterweight to China. Rubio continued that tradition on Tuesday, convening his counterparts from India, Japan and Australia in New Delhi, where they endorsed a \u201ccommon vision for a free and open India-Pacific.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Rubio and Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar prepare to sign a memorandum of understanding Tuesday in New Delhi. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson\/Pool\/AP)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

But technocratic cooperation has been overshadowed by more high-profile feuds.<\/p>\n

Indian officials have been angered by Trump\u2019s tariffs on Indian exports, alarmed by the president\u2019s public fondness for Pakistan\u2019s top military leader, Asim Munir, whom he calls his \u201cfavorite field marshal,\u201d and embittered by the administration\u2019s decision to elevate Pakistan as an intermediary<\/a> during the Iran conflict. Trump\u2019s embrace of Pakistan on the heels of his friendly visit to China<\/a> has prompted comparisons to President Richard M. Nixon, who aligned with Islamabad over New Delhi and brokered a watershed rapprochement with Beijing.<\/p>\n

\u201cNixon, like Trump, believed that resetting relations with China was in paramount American interest. Nixon, like Trump, led a White House and establishment that was instinctively unsympathetic to Indian concerns,\u201d Samir Saran, the president of the Observer Research Foundation, a New Delhi-based think tank, wrote in the Indian Express. \u201cAnd Nixon, like Trump, viewed the Pakistani military leadership through rose-tinted glasses.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
An Indian security official salutes Rubio before he boards his plane Tuesday at Jaipur International Airport in India. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson\/Pool\/AP)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

He stressed during remarks to reporters that the tariff disputes with India were not unique to New Delhi and reflected Trump\u2019s determination to change global trade policy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe president did not say, \u2018Let\u2019s figure out a way to create friction with India over trade,\u2019\u201d Rubio said. \u201cThe United States was being deindustrialized. We pursued trade policies that left us in a place where all the means of production had been outsourced in such a way that left us vulnerable, that had to change.\u201d<\/p>

Read more The Carolina Hurricanes look like a powerhouse again, up 2-1 in the East final against the Canadiens<\/a><\/p>\n

Michael Kugelman, a South Asia analyst at the Atlantic Council, acknowledged that the relationship was in a \u201ctough spot,\u201d but said a few green shoots have emerged in recent months, including India\u2019s agreement to reduce some purchases of Russian energy as a part of broader trade discussions and the Justice Department\u2019s recent decision to drop criminal fraud charges<\/a> against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s provided a boost, especially given that it\u2019s an open secret that Adani is close to Modi,\u201d Kugelman said.<\/p>\n

Another figure seeking to improve the relationship is the U.S. ambassador to India, Sergio Gor, a longtime Trump ally at the White House and architect of Rubio\u2019s expansive visit.<\/p>\n

Kugelman called Gor \u201cessentially the India whisperer from within the Trump administration,\u201d saying the ambassador had helped \u201cset a positive tone in the relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, critics lamented that U.S. efforts appeared more focused on transactional matters, such as increasing Indian purchases of U.S. oil and gas rather than a coherent Indo-Pacific strategy to blunt China\u2019s influence.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt appears to many that the secretary of state is talking more about how much oil can be sold to India rather than cooperation against China or how to maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific,\u201d said Haqqani.<\/p>\n

But if anyone can help play up Washington\u2019s concern about China, it\u2019s Rubio, one of the most hawkish U.S. figures when it comes to Beijing, said Kugelman.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s been a pretty strong perception across the Indian policy community for quite some time that Trump is not willing to pursue a robust competition with China,\u201d said Kugelman. \u201cBut Rubio is arguably best positioned to make the case that the two sides have common ground on this issue.\u201d<\/p>

Read more Naomi Osaka\u2019s taste for fashion in the spotlight again with walk-on outfit at the French Open<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The top U.S. diplomat visited the world\u2019s largest democracy in a bid to reverse soured relations over Trump\u2019s tariff agenda and embrace of Pakistan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1691,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nTo repair ties with India, Rubio leans into pageantry - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1695\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"To repair ties with India, Rubio leans into pageantry - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The top U.S. diplomat visited the world\u2019s largest democracy in a bid to reverse soured relations over Trump\u2019s tariff agenda and embrace of Pakistan.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1695\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-26T18:08:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/38b21aa05d88f528ba5b3b8e2ad9694d-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1706\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=1695#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=1695\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"To repair ties with India, Rubio leans into pageantry\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-26T18:08:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=1695\"},\"wordCount\":928,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=1695#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/a8ecac3ff53f1f523a00fb2116632627-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=1695#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=1695\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=1695\",\"name\":\"To repair ties with India, Rubio leans into pageantry - Moving Insider USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=1695#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=1695#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/a8ecac3ff53f1f523a00fb2116632627-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-26T18:08:08+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=1695#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=1695\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=1695#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/a8ecac3ff53f1f523a00fb2116632627-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/a8ecac3ff53f1f523a00fb2116632627-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=1695#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"To repair ties with India, Rubio leans into pageantry\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Moving Insider USA\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"To repair ties with India, Rubio leans into pageantry - Moving Insider USA","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1695","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"To repair ties with India, Rubio leans into pageantry - Moving Insider USA","og_description":"The top U.S. diplomat visited the world\u2019s largest democracy in a bid to reverse soured relations over Trump\u2019s tariff agenda and embrace of Pakistan.","og_url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1695","og_site_name":"Moving Insider USA","article_published_time":"2026-05-26T18:08:08+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1706,"url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/38b21aa05d88f528ba5b3b8e2ad9694d-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1695#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1695"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03"},"headline":"To repair ties with India, Rubio leans into pageantry","datePublished":"2026-05-26T18:08:08+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1695"},"wordCount":928,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1695#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/a8ecac3ff53f1f523a00fb2116632627-scaled.jpg","articleSection":["Interesting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1695#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1695","url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1695","name":"To repair ties with India, Rubio leans into pageantry - Moving Insider USA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1695#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1695#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/a8ecac3ff53f1f523a00fb2116632627-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2026-05-26T18:08:08+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1695#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1695"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1695#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/a8ecac3ff53f1f523a00fb2116632627-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/a8ecac3ff53f1f523a00fb2116632627-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1695#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"To repair ties with India, Rubio leans into pageantry"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/","name":"Moving Insider USA","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com"],"url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1695"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1695\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}