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United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio has assured India that Washington's growing engagement with Pakistan will not weaken its partnership with New Delhi, telling Indian audiences that the two countries share the same concerns about terrorism.
"In no way does the relationship with Pakistan come at the expense of our relationship with India," Rubio said in an interview with India Today during his visit to Mumbai, speaking at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel — one of the sites attacked in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, in which more than 160 people were killed, including six Americans.
Rubio said the United States has to maintain relationships with as many countries as possible because of its global presence and interests, and argued that engagement with Islamabad gives Washington more influence over decisions there. "I think it allows us to have, hopefully, more influence over the decisions they make on a variety of topics," he said, adding that it could help discourage actions that could lead to conflict between India and Pakistan.
"We share the same concerns India does about terrorism," Rubio said. "We have been victims of terrorism, as India has been, and continue to be. In fact, no country in the world does more to go after terrorism than the United States." He pointed to the U.S. campaign that destroyed ISIS in the Middle East, eroded al-Qaeda, eliminated Osama bin Laden, and operations against terrorist elements in Africa.
In a separate interview with CNN-News18 in Mumbai on October 20, Rubio said Pakistan's nuclear weapons and strategic location made the relationship unavoidable. "It's a country that we have to have a relationship with," he said, comparing it to India's own diplomatic engagement with Iran. "We're against terrorism anywhere in the world," he added.
Rubio also rejected comparisons between the current U.S. approach and the 1970s, when President Richard Nixon and national security adviser Henry Kissinger were seen as favouring Pakistan. "I would not use the 1970s as an example because the world looks nothing like it did back then," he told The Indian Express. "Our relationship with no country in the world, in any way, comes at the expense of our relationship with India."
The secretary of state said the United States does not want another war between India and Pakistan and is prepared to play a constructive role in lowering tensions, though he declined to disclose private conversations from Operation Sindoor, the May 2025 confrontation that ended in a ceasefire after Rubio spoke to leaders on both sides.
Rubio made the remarks during a three-day visit to India built around the U.S.-India partnership, including talks with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar. He said the two countries were "incredibly close" to finalising a trade agreement, down to technical details he expected to be settled "in a matter of weeks, not months."
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