Rubio dismisses anti-India rhetoric controversy, says Trump is a ‘big fan’ of Modi and India

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday sought to downplay concerns over alleged anti-India rhetoric emanating from the United States, asserting that President Donald Trump remains a strong admirer of India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Rubio's remarks came amid a controversy triggered by a question posed to him during a media interaction on Sunday regarding instances of alleged racism and anti-India comments circulating in the United States. The exchange quickly gained traction online, with many linking the question to a social media post reposted by Trump that described India and China as “hellholes” and appeared to accuse people from both countries of exploiting America's birthright citizenship provisions.

Addressing the issue again on Monday, Rubio rejected suggestions that such comments reflected the US administration's outlook towards India.

“The President is a big fan of India, a big fan of Prime Minister Modi,” Rubio said.

“I wouldn't be here if the President didn't want me to be here. He wouldn't have sent someone like Sergio Gor to be our ambassador, someone who's very close to the President,” he added.

Rubio is currently on a four-day visit to India aimed at strengthening bilateral ties that have faced strains over several issues since last year.

State Department deletes controversial exchange

The controversy deepened after the US State Department initially posted Rubio's response to the racism-related question on X but later removed that portion of the exchange from its official social media feed.

Referring to Sunday's interaction, Rubio said he had specifically asked the journalist whom he was referring to when raising concerns about racist comments directed at Indians and Indian-Americans.

According to Rubio, the reporter did not identify specific individuals and instead broadly referred to comments and endorsements circulating online.

“The bottom line is that in the modern era, you go online, and there are people saying all kinds of crazy stuff. I don't even know if they're real people or who they are,” Rubio said.

He suggested that the concerns appeared to relate primarily to comments made by individuals on social media platforms rather than any official position of the US government.

During Sunday's exchange, the journalist had said, “There have been a lot of racist comments coming from the United States against Indians, Indian-Americans. You know this goes against the basic premise of the India-US relationship. What's your take on that?”

When Rubio sought clarification, the reporter replied: “We all have seen those comments. We've seen endorsement of those comments.”

Responding at the time, Rubio remarked that “every country has stupid people”.

Pakistan issue raised during visit

Rubio also addressed questions regarding India-Pakistan relations and whether concerns about Islamabad had figured prominently during his discussions with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.

He said India continued to express concerns about terrorist groups operating from Pakistani territory.

“India is always pointing to the fact that there are armed terrorist groups operating from Pakistani territory that target India — they're always concerned about it,” Rubio said.

However, he indicated that Pakistan's reported role in facilitating diplomatic engagement relating to Iran was not raised during the talks.

“But as far as the role they played as a mediator and a facilitator in the Iran situation — that never came up. I don't think they would complain about that; their issues with Pakistan are different,” he said.

Rubio's remarks appeared aimed at reassuring New Delhi of Washington's commitment to the strategic partnership at a time when both countries are seeking to deepen cooperation in defence, technology, trade and Indo-Pacific security through mechanisms such as the Quad.