US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit to India’s Jamnagar this week – home to the world’s largest oil refining complex – signals energy cooperation as the anchor for bilateral ties even as broader policy friction frays relations, according to analysts.
On Tuesday, Rubio indicated that India’s largest private company, Reliance Industries, which owns the Jamnagar oil refinery complex, will buy more Venezuelan oil.
“India is a refining superpower. They have the capability to refine heavy crude. They’ve done so in the past, and I think as more and more Venezuelan oil comes online, it’s something they can do,” he told reporters in Mumbai, the country’s financial capital.
Rubio met Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Tuesday in Mumbai as both sides sought to deepen energy cooperation and move closer to finalising a broader trade deal, following an interim framework reached in February.