(Reuters) -Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said he and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio agreed at a meeting in New York on Monday on the importance of sustained engagement to make progress in priority areas.
The meeting on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly came after U.S. President Donald Trump’s move to impose a $100,000 fee for new H-1B visas, the latest blow to U.S.-India ties, which the two sides have sought to develop given shared concerns about China.
Posting on X, Jaishankar said he and Rubio discussed bilateral and international issues of concern and added they “Agreed on the importance of sustained engagement to progress on priority areas.”
Monday’s was the first meeting between Rubio and Jaishankar since Trump imposed extra tariffs on India over its purchases of Russian oil. They last met in July at a meeting of the Quad grouping, which brings them together with Japan and Australia.
Ties have been strained by trade frictions, but relations had looked to be picking up again until Trump’s visa announcement on Friday, which analysts say will raise operating costs for Indian IT services companies.
India was by far the largest beneficiary of H-1B visas last year, accounting for 71% of approved visas, while China was a distant second at 11.7%, according to U.S. government data.
Indian equity benchmarks declined on Monday, after key information technology stocks lost roughly $10 billion in combined market capitalisation after the U.S. visa move.
Rubio has stressed the importance of India ties.
In an unusual move, he made a surprise appearance at the hearing this month to introduce Sergio Gor, Trump’s nominee to be the next U.S. ambassador to New Delhi and called India “one of the top relationships the United States has in the world today.”
(Reporting by Surbhi Misra in Bengaluru; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Cynthia Osterman)
