US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to begin 4-day India visit on Saturday

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will arrive in India on Saturday for a four-day visit -- his first to the country since taking office -- aiming to repair bilateral ties that have been under strain since mid-last year.The top US diplomat is scheduled to hold wide-ranging talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, in addition to attending a meeting of the Quad foreign ministers in New Delhi.While the Jaishankar-Rubio talks are set for Sunday, the Quad meeting will take place on Tuesday.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will arrive in India on Saturday for a four-day visit -- his first to the country since taking office -- aiming to repair bilateral ties that have been under strain since mid-last year.

The top US diplomat is scheduled to hold wide-ranging talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, in addition to attending a meeting of the Quad foreign ministers in New Delhi.

While the Jaishankar-Rubio talks are set for Sunday, the Quad meeting will take place on Tuesday. Besides his engagements in New Delhi, Rubio is also scheduled to visit Kolkata, Agra and Jaipur, people familiar with the matter said.

There is a possibility of the US Secretary of State calling on Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well, it is learnt.

''There's a lot to work on with India, they're a great ally and partner. We do a lot of good work with them so this is an important trip,'' Rubio said on Friday about his trip to India.

Ways to bolster India-US ties in energy, trade, investment, critical technology and people-to-people ties exchanges are likely to dominate the talks between Jaishankar and Rubio, the people cited above said.

The two sides are also expected to deliberate on the West Asia crisis and its economic impact including on energy supplies.

The US Secretary of State's trip to India comes over five weeks after Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri undertook a three-day visit to Washington DC that focused on stabilising the ties after a spell of uncertainty and strain.

The relations between the two countries witnessed a major downturn after Washington imposed punitive tariffs on India and President Donald Trump made controversial assertions regarding his role in de-escalating the India-Pakistan military clashes last May.

Over the next few months, the US president repeatedly and publicly claimed that he had resolved the military conflict between the two neighbours and saved millions of lives as it was going in the direction of a full-scale war.

New Delhi stoutly maintained that the cessation of the hostilities was result of talks between India and Pakistan the US involvement had nothing to do with it.

Washington's new immigration policy and its decision to increase H1B visa fee also contributed to the slide in India-US ties.

However, both sides made efforts in the last few months to repair the ties.

The two sides have resolved to firm up a mutually beneficial trade deal soon.

Trump and Modi on April 14 held a nearly 40-minute phone conversation.

Following the call, Modi said he and Trump reviewed the ''substantial progress'' in the bilateral ties and that both sides are committed to further strengthen the India-US comprehensive global strategic partnership in ''all areas''.

It is learnt that India and the US will carry out a comprehensive review of their ties during Rubio's visit and focus on boosting the overall trajectory of the relations.