US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit the world’s largest refinery complex in Jamnagar today. During the visit, he will also meet Reliance Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani. Rubio will discuss refining Venezuelan crude oil with Reliance. According to media reports, Reliance Industries is preparing to make a major investment in an oil refinery in Texas, US, which would be the first refinery to be built in the US in 50 years. This is why the meeting is considered highly significant. Rubio’s Jamnagar visit is significant for three reasons… 1. Diesel crosses ₹155 in the US 2. Reliance Should Buy More Oil from Venezuela 3. Reliance’s $300 billion investment in the US Jamnagar is the world’s largest refinery According to Reliance, the Jamnagar refinery is the world’s largest and most modern refinery built at a single location. It has the capacity to process 14 lakh barrels of crude oil every day. Rubio says India is a refining superpower Rubio, who arrived in Mumbai on Tuesday, described India as a ‘refining superpower’. He said, “India has significant capacity to refine Venezuela’s heavy crude oil. Indian refineries can play an important role in reducing the global oil crisis. India and the United States will work together to remove legal and sanctions-related hurdles affecting oil supplies.” Rubio’s second visit to India since May This is Marco Rubio’s second visit to India since his previous visit in May. In May, he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar. He also took part in the meeting of Quad foreign ministers. Will Rubio’s visit put India-US ties back on track? India-US relations have become strained in recent months. This includes the passage of the Lindsey Graham Act imposing 100% tariffs on countries buying oil from Russia, as well as ending the green-card exemption available to employees of Indian companies such as Infosys, TCS, Wipro and HCL. However, ahead of Rubio’s visit to India, Trump temporarily halted the move on 16 October and said it would benefit the United States. Robinder Sachdeva, senior geopolitical expert at Indian think tank The ImageIndia Institute, believes that Rubio is focused on business hubs such as Mumbai and Jamnagar rather than New Delhi’s traditional politics. The aim is to boost corporate deals, partnerships in the refinery sector, investment and business-to-business ties between the two countries. Political columnist Pratap Bhanu Mehta writes that Rubio’s decision to visit Mumbai and Jamnagar instead of Delhi could signal that the US is engaging with India’s business hubs while giving less importance to its political centre. However, a relationship based solely on business deals may not be enough to sustain a strategic partnership. Will also meet Adani and Tata Group chairmen Before leaving for Gujarat, the US Secretary of State is also scheduled to meet other leading Indian industrialists. He will hold talks with industrialist Gautam Adani and Tata Group Chairman N Chandrasekaran. The discussions will focus on increasing trade and investment between the two countries. Post navigation US and India close to finalising trade deal:Trump says proposed pact will differ significantly from previous agreements Sensex rises by more than 700 points:Nifty also up 150 points with heavier buying in IT and banking shares
