Washington, February 4: Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar held separate meetings with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Basset, focusing on the strategic and economic partnership between India and the United States.
Following his meeting with Rubio, Jaishankar expressed his satisfaction on social media platform X, stating, “It was a pleasure to meet U.S. Senator Rubio this afternoon. We had extensive discussions on our bilateral cooperation agenda and regional and global issues. Topics included trade, energy, nuclear, defense, critical minerals, and technology. We agreed to hold meetings soon to advance our shared interests.”
According to a statement from the State Department, both leaders discussed formalizing bilateral cooperation in the exploration, mining, and processing of critical minerals, which has emerged as a central pillar of India-U.S. economic and strategic relations.
This meeting took place a day after the announcement of a trade agreement aimed at reducing barriers and expanding market access between the world’s two largest democracies, as initiated by President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The statement noted that Secretary Rubio and Minister Jaishankar welcomed the agreement, emphasizing the importance of both democracies working together to unlock new economic opportunities and advance shared energy security goals.
The discussions also highlighted the regional and multilateral dimensions of their partnership. Rubio and Jaishankar concluded their meeting by reaffirming their commitment to expanding bilateral and multilateral cooperation through security dialogues, acknowledging that a prosperous Indo-Pacific region is vital for advancing shared interests.
Earlier, Jaishankar also met with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Basset in Washington. He shared a photo of their meeting in another post, stating, “It was great to meet U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Basset in Washington. We had useful discussions on advancing the India-U.S. economic partnership and strategic cooperation.”