EAM Jaishankar Meets US State Secretary Marco Rubio In Malaysia — What They Discussed

India-US Relations: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Malaysia and discussed bilateral relations between the two countries. This meeting will take place on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit.

EAM provided information about the meeting in its post on the X social media platform and stated that it appreciated the discussion on regional and global issues as well as bilateral relations.

“Nice to meet @SecRubio this morning in Kuala Lumpur. Appreciated our bilateral ties as well as discussion on regional and global issues,” Jaishankar wrote to X.

Pleased to meet you @SecRubio in Kuala Lumpur this morning.

We appreciated the meeting on regional and global issues as well as our bilateral relations.

pic.twitter.com/mlrqoyZypB—Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) 27 October 2025

Rubio on India-US Relations

Previously, Rubio had dismissed growing concerns that Washington’s growing strategic ties with Pakistan meant sidelining India. He said the relationship with Islamabad would not harm the US’s “deep, historic and important” partnership with New Delhi.

Addressing the media on his way to Doha, Qatar, on Saturday, the US Secretary of State asserted that New Delhi understands the need to engage with multiple countries within a mature diplomatic framework.

“I don’t think anything we do with Pakistan is going to come at the expense of our deep, historic and important relationship or friendship with India,” Rubio told reporters when asked about India’s concerns about the recent escalation in US-Pakistan relations. he said.

Also Read: ‘Not At India’s Expense’: Rubio Defends US-Pakistan Ties Using ‘History’ Argument

Acknowledging India’s concerns, the top US diplomat said: “We know they are concerned for obvious reasons because of the tensions that have existed historically between Pakistan and India.” he said.

But he emphasized that global engagement was a broader imperative and stated that Washington sees an opportunity to expand its “strategic relationship” with Pakistan and aims to work with the countries on issues of common interest.

“We need to have relationships with many different countries. We see the opportunity to expand our strategic relationship with Pakistan, and that’s our job; to try to figure out how many countries we can find and how we can work with them on common interests,” Rubio said. he said.

He also praised India’s diplomatic maturity, noting: “Indians are very mature when it comes to diplomacy and things like that. They have some relations with countries that we do not have relations with. This is part of a mature, pragmatic foreign policy.”

According to ANI, Rubio’s remarks come at a time when the Trump administration is increasingly renewing its relations with Pakistan.

India at the 22nd ASEAN Summit

India and ASEAN countries strengthened ties at the 22nd ASEAN-India Summit held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Sunday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted key areas such as cooperation, counter-terrorism, early review of the ASEAN-India Free Trade Agreement and maritime security, among others.

Prime Minister Modi attended the Summit virtually. This was the Prime Minister’s 12th participation in the India-ASEAN Summit.

Prime Minister Modi and ASEAN leaders jointly reviewed the progress in ASEAN-India relations and discussed initiatives to strengthen the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

According to the press release of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Prime Minister Modi stated that terrorism poses a serious threat to global peace and security and emphasized the importance of unity in the fight against terrorism.

(with ANI entries)