US secretary of state Rubio to visit India for energy talks, strengthening India-US ties next week

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Mumbai and Jamnagar from October 17 to 22 as part of his India and Uzbekistan tour to strengthen strategic ties, discuss energy cooperation and promote bilateral trade and investment.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is scheduled to visit Mumbai and Jamnagar during his India tour in October, where he will meet senior Indian government officials to strengthen the bilateral strategic partnership and explore opportunities to expand energy cooperation.

Rubio will visit India and Uzbekistan from October 17 to 22. According to a media note issued by the US Department of State on Tuesday (local time), his itinerary includes Samarkand in Uzbekistan, followed by Mumbai and Jamnagar in India.

The visit will mark Rubio’s second official trip to India this year.

During his visit to India, Rubio will hold discussions with senior government officials to strengthen the US-India strategic partnership, exchange perspectives on regional and global developments, and explore avenues for expanding energy cooperation, according to the press note.

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He is also scheduled to meet business leaders to encourage commercial investment and deepen economic cooperation between the two countries.

Before travelling to India, Rubio will attend the C5+1 Ministerial meeting in Uzbekistan. The US Secretary of State is expected to highlight how strategic cooperation through the diplomatic platform can help build “a more peaceful and prosperous future for the United States and the countries of Central Asia”.

The upcoming visit follows remarks by US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor on Monday, in which he highlighted expanding cooperation between New Delhi and Washington in defence, information technology and healthcare. Gor also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump had spoken recently.

Speaking at an event in Kolkata commemorating the 250th anniversary of American independence, Gor described India as an important partner for the United States and underscored Kolkata’s significance in Washington’s engagement with the country.

Highlighting defence ties, the US Ambassador cited recent joint military exercises involving Indian and American forces, along with the participation of US defence platforms in activities in India.

“If you look at defence, in the last two weeks alone, we have conducted exercises involving more than 500 troops at Tarang Shakti. We also had F-35s in Rajasthan for the first time,” he said.

Meanwhile, Rubio's previous visit to India took place from May 23 to 26. 

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With ANI inputs...

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