US Secretary of State's Visit to India and Central Asia: Energy Ties, the C5+1 and the Quad
The US Department of State announced that the US Secretary of State will visit India from 17 to 22 October 2026 to strengthen energy cooperation.
In India, the visit will cover Mumbai and Jamnagar (Gujarat). Jamnagar has a private refinery complex that processes about 1.4 million barrels of crude oil per day, reported as the world's largest single-site refinery.
The Secretary will meet senior Indian officials to discuss the India-US strategic partnership, regional and global issues and closer energy cooperation, and will also meet business leaders to promote investment.
Before India, the Secretary will go to Samarkand in Uzbekistan for a C5+1 Ministerial with the five Central Asian countries: Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and the Kyrgyz Republic. A large US business delegation will travel along.
This is the Secretary's second visit to India since May 2026, when New Delhi hosted the Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting.
In March 2026, the US President announced that a new refinery at Brownsville, Texas, the first new US oil refinery in about 50 years, would be built with investment from an Indian energy company.
India-US Energy Cooperation: LNG, Crude, and the Strategic Dimension
India-US energy cooperation is the partnership between the two countries to trade fuels, share clean-energy technology and invest in each other's energy sectors. India is one of the world's biggest buyers of oil and gas. The United States has become one of the world's biggest producers of oil and gas. So one country needs secure supplies and the other wants big, steady buyers. This makes energy one of the most practical pillars of India-US ties.
The US Secretary of State's visit has energy cooperation as its main purpose. The stop at Jamnagar highlights India's huge refining capacity, which can process US crude. It also comes after an Indian company's investment in a new refinery in Texas, which shows that energy investment now flows both ways.
C5+1 Format: The US-Central Asia Diplomatic Platform
The C5+1 is a meeting format in which the five Central Asian countries ("C5") sit together with one outside country ("+1"), which is the United States. The five countries are Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Instead of meeting each country one by one, the US meets all five together to discuss shared issues like trade, energy, water and security. It is a dialogue platform, not a treaty or a military alliance.
The US Secretary of State will attend a C5+1 Ministerial in Samarkand, the city where the format's first ministerial was held in 2015, before travelling to India. Energy, trade and business deals are central to both legs of the trip.
The Quad (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue)
The Quad is a group of four democracies: India, the United States, Japan and Australia. They work together for a "free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific", the sea region from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. The Quad is not a military alliance and has no treaty or secretariat. It works through regular meetings of leaders, foreign ministers and officials.
The US Secretary of State last visited India in May 2026 for the Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting. The new visit, only months later, shows that high-level India-US contact continues alongside the Quad.
- Visit to India: 17 to 22 October 2026; cities: Mumbai and Jamnagar
- Jamnagar refinery: about 1.4 million barrels per day, reported as the world's largest single-site refinery
- C5+1 Ministerial in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, before the India visit
- C5 countries: Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyz Republic
- Previous visit: May 2026, Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting in New Delhi
- Brownsville, Texas: announced in March 2026 as the first new US refinery in about 50 years, with Indian investment
- India's crude oil import dependence: about 88.2% (2024-25)