India great partner, ready to expand energy exports: US Secretary of State Rubio

📌 Summary:

• US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US is ready to sell "as much energy as India is willing to buy", ahead of his maiden visit to New Delhi.

• He described India as a "great ally and partner" and said his trip would let him meet ministers of the Quad nations; the Quad foreign ministers' meeting is planned for May 26.

• Rubio's remarks came in response to a question on India being hit by high energy prices due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz; he said US energy production and exports are at historic levels and flagged opportunities with Venezuelan oil.

• Rubio will be in India from May 23-26, visiting Kolkata, Agra, Jaipur and New Delhi; the Quad meeting will be attended by Rubio, Australia's Penny Wong and Japan's Motegi Toshimitsu, with EAM S Jaishankar presiding.

• Rubio noted that Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez is also due to visit India next week, signalling widening opportunities for cooperation.

• His Kolkata visit will be the first by a US Secretary of State in nearly fourteen years (since Hillary Clinton in 2012); the US Consulate General in Kolkata is America's second-oldest consulate in the world.

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS2 — India-US bilateral relations, the Quad as a plurilateral grouping, and energy diplomacy as a tool to diversify supply away from a disrupted West Asia.

📝 Prelims Facts:

• The Quad comprises India, the US, Japan and Australia.

• The Strait of Hormuz, between Iran and Oman, is the world's most important oil-transit chokepoint.

• The US Consulate General in Kolkata is the second-oldest US consulate in the world; the first American Consul to Kolkata was appointed in 1792.

🔑 Key Term: Energy diplomacy — the use of foreign policy to secure reliable, diversified energy supplies and to deepen strategic partnerships through energy trade.