US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit the White House on behalf of US President Donald Trump during his first official visit to India. 

Announcing the development, US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor said Rubio had extended the invitation during his meeting with Modi. “Secretary Marco Rubio extended an invite on behalf of President Donald Trump for Prime Minister Modi to visit the White House in the near future,” Gor said in a post on X. 

Rubio’s India visit comes amid efforts by both countries to stabilise bilateral ties following months of friction over trade tariffs, immigration issues including H-1B visas, Operation Sindoor, and the ongoing crisis in West Asia, which has raised concerns over India’s energy security. 

According to Gor, Rubio and Modi discussed ways to deepen cooperation across strategic sectors, including security, trade, and critical technologies. “Great to join Secretary Rubio for a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. We had a productive discussion on ways to deepen US-India cooperation across security, trade and critical technologies — areas that strengthen both our nations and advance a free and open Indo-Pacific. India is a vital partner to the United States,” he said. 

Prime Minister Modi also acknowledged the meeting in a post on X. 

“Happy to receive US Secretary of State Marco Rubio,” Modi said, adding that the two leaders discussed the continued progress in the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership as well as regional and global security issues. “India and the United States will continue to work closely for the global good,” the Prime Minister said. 

During the meeting, Rubio underlined the strategic importance of the India-US partnership and said Washington looked forward to working with India, Australia and Japan at the upcoming Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting to advance a “free and open Indo-Pacific”. 

The two leaders also discussed the evolving situation in West Asia. Rubio reportedly said the United States would not allow Iran to “hold the global energy market hostage” and noted that American energy exports could help diversify India’s energy supplies. 

Rubio arrived in India on Saturday and is scheduled to hold wide-ranging talks with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, apart from participating in the Quad foreign ministers’ meeting in New Delhi. 

According to reports, discussions between Jaishankar and Rubio are expected to focus on cooperation in energy, trade, investment, critical technologies, and people-to-people ties. The two sides are also likely to deliberate on the West Asia crisis and its impact on global energy supplies and the world economy.