Rubio Heads to India and Uzbekistan Days Before US Midterms
✈️ DIPLOMACY — Rubio leaves for India four days before the midterms; that's not tourism. 📌 LOOK CLOSER: India is absorbing Hormuz-rerouted Urals oil while paying record freight premiums — energy cooperation talks now means Washington wants New Delhi to quietly reduce Russian barrel uptake. Uzbekistan adds a Central Asian corridor angle. Timing, four days pre-midterm, signals this is groundwork for the post-November 5 escalation phase.