New Delhi, Feb. 4 -- External affairs minister S Jaishankar's meeting with US secretary of state Marco Rubio in Washington on Wednesday is being closely watched for further steps to put India-US ties on an even keel after a year of unprecedented strains following the finalisation of a trade deal, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

Jaishankar, in the US to participate in a ministerial meeting on critical minerals convened by Rubio on February 4, is set to meet the secretary of state in the early hours of Wednesday (Indian time), a day after the surprise announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump of the reduction of US tariffs on Indian exports from 50% to 18% under the trade deal.

Other than a c...