AFP, New Delhi

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio yesterday invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Washington, reaffirming the importance of a relationship that has come under growing strain, a week after the United States held a warm summit with China.

After joining President Donald Trump in Beijing a week ago, Rubio -- visiting both Asian powers for the first time -- flew to New Delhi and saw Modi for more than an hour, inviting the premier to visit the White House soon.

Rubio “underscored the strategic importance of the US-India partnership, rooted in our shared democratic, profound economic and commercial opportunity and the strong personal ties” between Modi and Trump, State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said, glossing over last year’s friction between the world’s two largest democracies.