Did Ajit Doval Meet US Secretary Of State Rubio In September 2025? MEA Reacts To Reports

Last Updated:February 05, 2026, 08:23 IST

NSA Ajit Doval assured Marco Rubio that India has faced difficult US administrations in the past and was ready to wait out Trump’s term for a trade deal.

NSA Doval conveyed to US Secretary of State Rubio that New Delhi was ready to endure a tough Trump administration to protect long-term trade interests. (IMAGE: REUTERS)

Security Adviser Ajit Doval told US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that India would not be bullied by President Donald Trump and was prepared to wait out his tenure if necessary, according to a Bloomberg report.

Doval conveyed the message during a visit to Washington in early September, shortly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping in China. The NSA’s trip was aimed at easing rising tensions between New Delhi and Washington.

Ajit Doval came with a message for Rubio that India wanted to put the acrimony behind it and return to negotiating a trade deal, officials in New Delhi familiar with the discussions told Bloomberg.

During the meeting, Doval told Rubio that India would not be pushed around by Trump or his senior aides, and that New Delhi had dealt with difficult US administrations in the past.

The outreach came at a time when ties had soured sharply. In August, Trump imposed 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods and publicly criticised India over its trade policies and purchases of Russian oil.

Bloomberg reported that Doval’s intervention appeared to have an impact. On September 16, Trump called PM Modi on his birthday and praised him for doing a “tremendous job". By the end of the year, the two leaders had spoken four more times as both sides gradually worked toward a trade understanding.

On Monday, Trump announced that he had reached a trade agreement with PM Modi under which US tariffs on Indian goods would fall to 18 per cent. A punitive 25 per cent duty imposed on India for buying Russian oil was also scrapped.

In return, Trump claimed India had agreed to purchase $500 billion worth of US goods, switch to buying Venezuelan oil, and reduce tariffs on American imports to zero. Neither side has released any formal documentation to codify the agreement.

Doval’s September meeting with Rubio was meant to signal that India viewed the US as a long-term strategic partner and could not afford to allow relations to deteriorate further, the Bloomberg report said.

New Delhi, according to the report, maintained that India needed US capital, technology and military cooperation to counter China and to meet PM Modi’s goal of turning India into a developed economy by 2047. Trump, officials believed, was a temporary phase, and India had to stay focused on long-term interests.

Relations had begun to spiral downward earlier in the year after Trump claimed credit in May for resolving a four-day clash between India and Pakistan, a claim that the Indian Army and PM Modi rejected.

PM Modi later declined Trump’s request to visit the White House when the US President hosted the Pakistani leadership there.

The arrival of new US Ambassador Sergio Gor in New Delhi in December helped inject fresh momentum into efforts to repair ties. Gor, a former senior White House official and a close associate of both Trump and Rubio, has repeatedly emphasised the importance of the India-US relationship.

News world Ajit Doval Told Rubio India Won’t Be Bullied On Trade Deal, Can Wait Out Trump’s Term: Report

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