Venezuela’s Rodríguez Wraps India Tour in Mumbai, Energy Pivot Takes Centre Stage

Venezuela's Acting President Delcy Rodríguez arrived in Mumbai on Friday, rounding off a five-day working visit to India that has cemented a sweeping energy realignment between the two countries as New Delhi scrambles to replace crude supplies disrupted by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz .

Rodríguez was received at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport by Indian Ambassador to Venezuela P K Ashok Babu , Maharashtra Chief Protocol Secretary Rajesh Gawande , Additional Commissioner of Mumbai Police Abhinav Deshmukh , and Mumbai Suburban Collector Saurabh Katiyar .

Mumbai is the third city on her itinerary after New Delhi and Jamnagar. It is the financial capital of India and home to the operational base of Reliance Industries Limited , one of the world's most influential corporations in the petrochemical space, making it a fitting final stop for a visit dominated by oil.

The centrepiece of the tour was Rodríguez's meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Thursday. MEA Secretary Rudrendra Tandon described the discussions as "very substantive and businesslike," adding that Venezuela sees India as a stable long-term energy partner and that "a perfect complementarity" exists between the two nations. The two sides discussed encouraging long-term energy contracts between public and private sector oil marketing companies in both countries, and agreed to broaden cooperation to encompass critical minerals , gold and diamond mining, animal husbandry, the automotive sector, and pharmaceuticals. No formal agreements were signed.

Rodríguez also met External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri , who said an Indian technical team would shortly visit Venezuela to explore deeper cooperation in the energy sector and examine prospects for expanding commercial engagement.

The urgency driving the visit is unmistakable. The Strait of Hormuz, through which nearly 40 per cent of India's crude oil imports previously flowed, has been effectively shut by the US-Israel war on Iran . A senior MEA official said India is "aggressively seeking new sources of crude oil and energy" to strengthen its energy security and that Venezuela "is very much part of our plans." Venezuela has already emerged as India's third-largest crude oil supplier in May 2026, with bilateral trade between the two countries standing at USD 678.94 million in FY 2025-26.

The visit carries a notable geopolitical dimension. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio publicly flagged Rodríguez's India trip in May, with Washington encouraging New Delhi to pivot toward Venezuelan crude as an alternative to Iranian oil , a pointed signal of how dramatically the strategic calculus around Venezuela has shifted since the removal of Nicolás Maduro . Rodríguez assumed office after Maduro was removed in a US military operation in January this year. The Modi-Rodríguez talks included a "very frank conversation" on Venezuela's political transition, though officials declined to go into details.

Pending financial disputes were also on the table. Outstanding dividends of over USD 500 million owed to ONGC Videsh from its Venezuelan investments came up repeatedly in the talks, as did unpaid dues to Indian pharmaceutical companies from the sanctions period, estimated at USD 700-800 million . Tandon said Caracas was "very well sensitive" to both issues.

During her stay, Rodríguez visited Reliance's Jamnagar refinery in Gujarat and a Tata Motors manufacturing facility, as well as a pharmaceutical laboratory in Delhi, a sweep through India's industrial base that illustrated the range of sectors both sides are seeking to activate. This is her sixth visit to India , having previously visited as foreign minister in 2015 and as vice president in 2019, 2023, 2024 and 2025.