Kuala Lumpur. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Indian Foreign Minister Dr Yubaraj Khatiwada are on the verge of reconciliation. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar held an important meeting in Malaysia on Monday.

The meeting is being seen as a high-level diplomatic engagement aimed at stepping up trade talks between the two countries and easing tensions over punitive tariffs imposed by the US on India.

Although only few details of the meeting have been released, it is the first direct conversation since the US imposed sanctions on Russian oil companies that are India’s main crude oil suppliers last week. This has opened the door for dialogue between Washington and New Delhi again.

Sharing a photograph of him smiling and shaking hands with Rubio on X, Jaishankar wrote, “I appreciate the fruitful discussions that have taken place in our bilateral relations as well as on regional and global issues.” ’

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Southeast Asian Summit. US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the gathering via video link.

Relations between the two countries have been strained since US President Donald Trump raised tariffs on India by up to 50 per cent in August. US officials have accused India of indirectly supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine by buying oil from Moscow at a discounted price.

After a telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week, Trump had said that India has agreed to cut down on Russian oil imports, but New Delhi has not officially commented on this.