Marco Rubio to visit Mumbai and Jamnagar Oct 17-22 as Russia oil tariff deadline nears

Marco Rubio, the United States Secretary of State, will travel to Uzbekistan and India from October 17 to 22, 2026, the State Department announced on Tuesday, October 13. He will first go to Samarkand in Uzbekistan for a meeting of the C5+1 group, which brings together the US and the five Central Asian countries, and will then visit Mumbai and Jamnagar in India. According to the State Department, Rubio will meet senior Indian officials "to strengthen the US-India strategic partnership, exchange views on regional and global dynamics, and discuss prospects for enhanced energy cooperation." The trip overlaps with October 18, the date by which a new US law requires the President to act against large buyers of Russian oil and gas, a group that includes India.

The choice of cities is unusual for a US Secretary of State. Most high-level visits centre on New Delhi. This one goes to India's financial capital and to a refining town, which points clearly to energy and business. In March, President Donald Trump announced that the US would build its first new oil refinery in about 50 years with investment from Reliance Industries, the company that runs the Jamnagar complex. A stop there signals that Washington sees Indian energy companies as partners and buyers, not only as customers of Russian crude.

The timing matters even more. On September 18, 2026, President Trump signed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, passed by 86 votes to 11 in the Senate and 262 to 159 in the House. Its Section 113 allows additional duties of up to 100 percent on all goods from countries that were among the five largest importers of Russian crude oil or natural gas in the year before the law, if they knowingly make new purchases on or after October 18. India has been one of the biggest buyers of Russian crude since 2022. The law sets no minimum rate for the first duties, and the President can waive them by telling Congress that a waiver serves the US national interest. Refined products such as diesel are not counted under that section.

India has already raised the matter at the top level. After meeting Rubio in New York on September 23, Jaishankar wrote that he had "Reiterated India's interests and concerns" about the act. Indian refiners have contracted Russian oil for September and October and want New Delhi to seek time to wind those contracts down. Washington lifted a 25 percent penalty duty on Indian goods linked to Russian oil in February, and no Russia-related tariff on India is in force today. A bilateral trade agreement has been delayed several times, and its fate is likely to come up during the visit.

For Central Asia, the Samarkand leg continues a push that saw President Trump host the five regional leaders at the White House last November. The C5+1 format began in 2015. Uzbekistan and the US have named energy, transport, critical minerals, digital technology and farming as areas for joint projects.

Short-term: The visit gives New Delhi a direct channel to argue for a waiver or a soft first decision under the Graham Act just as the deadline passes. Indian refiners, exporters and markets will watch for any statement on Russian oil purchases or tariffs during or right after the talks.

Long-term: Deeper energy ties, such as larger Indian purchases of US crude and gas or Indian investment in US refining, could reduce one of the main sources of friction between the two countries. Progress on the stalled trade agreement would also shape tariffs on Indian goods for years.

Who is affected: Indian oil refiners and importers, exporters who sell to the US and fear new duties, US energy companies seeking Indian buyers, and the governments of Central Asia hoping for US investment in minerals and infrastructure.

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