At a time when India-US relation hit rough patch, the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that India and US have ‘extraordinary alignment’ on the core issues that matter even though there can be disagreements on some others. He cited that the need to have a ‘free and open’ Indo-Pacific where no nation can claim dominance or ownership on international shipping as among the core issues of alignment. On his two-day visit to India, Rubio is scheduled to visit Reliance Industries' petrochemicals refinery at Gujarat's Jamnagar and meet business leaders, including Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran and Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani in Mumbai.
Highlighting importance of India-US relations, he said India is a ‘powerful, influential and advanced’ country, and a ‘strong geopolitical partner’ for the US. Further, both countries have a lot in common, including shared values of upholding the dignity of the individual, democratic principles and rule of law. He also said that India and the US are ‘very, very close’ to signing a bilateral trade deal, with only a few points to be ironed out. Meanwhile, talking about friction regarding trade and protectionist polity of US, Rubio noted that the US administration is taking decisions that will have far-reaching consequences.
In 2025, the bilateral trade between two countries stood at $149.42 billion. During the year, India's total goods exports to the U.S. reached $103.82 billion, while U.S. exports to India totalled around $45.6 billion. Further, the bilateral services trade in 2025 was recorded $92.23 billion, where India exported $48.67 billion worth of services to the US and imported $43.56 billion worth of services from the US.
