Rubio is trying to salvage relations with India and is banking on American energy in the face of the Iranian crisis.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Saturday to revive bilateral relations weakened by trade tensions and Washington's recent diplomatic overtures to Pakistan and China.

At the heart of the discussions was the issue of energy. Rubio stated that the United States wanted to become a key supplier for India and asserted that "American energy products have the potential to diversify India's energy supply," according to the official US account of the meeting.

The US Secretary of State also stressed the need to prevent Iran from "holding the global energy market hostage." The war involving Tehran has triggered a major global energy crisis, complicating Washington's efforts to reduce India's dependence on Russian oil.

This visit comes at a delicate time for relations between the two powers. Ties between Washington and New Delhi were severely damaged after the Trump administration imposed particularly high tariffs on several Indian products last year.

Although some of these measures have since been lifted under an interim agreement, the two countries have still not reached a comprehensive trade agreement. Rubio is now seeking to restore strategic trust between the two partners.

Following his meeting with Modi, the Secretary of State stressed that India occupies a central place in the American strategy for the Indo-Pacific, particularly through the Quad partnership bringing together the United States, India, Japan and Australia.

According to US officials, Narendra Modi also received an invitation to visit the White House, a sign of Washington's willingness to strengthen its cooperation with New Delhi again in the face of growing ambitions of China and Russia in the region.