New Delhi, May 27 -- The four-day visit of U.S. Secretary of State (also officiating NSA) Marco Rubio was significant in many ways. Apart from participating in the QUAD Foreign Ministers' meeting, Rubio held extensive discussions on several bilateral issues, many of them contentious. Visits of this nature usually indicate that the relationship is being viewed in a broader strategic context rather than through the prism of a single issue.

India-U.S. relations had remained broadly on an even keel for nearly twenty-five years, and it was generally assumed that this trajectory would continue during Trump's second term. The Biden administration had earlier lavished considerable attention on India as a vital strategic partner and hosted PM Mod...