India, May 26 -- Rubio's visit underscores the importance of the US-India partnership. Whether his words will translate into sustained and concrete commitments remains to be seen

Diplomacy is the deliberate act of rebuilding trust. That is precisely what Marco Rubio's four-day visit to India, which began on May 23, represents: an urgent and necessary mission to stabilise Indo-US relations that have gone through a difficult phase, as the Trump administration indulged in a series of actions that damaged the relationship, to say the least.

When a senior American diplomat arrives in India carrying a White House dinner invitation in one hand and an energy sales pitch in the other, the message is difficult to misread. Secretary of State Marco...