Washington/New Delhi: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio landed in Kolkata on Saturday morning to begin his four-day visit to India, marking his first trip to the country since assuming office last year. Rubio was received by senior officials upon arrival and is expected to travel across multiple Indian cities, including Agra and Jaipur, during the visit.
According to US Ambassador Sergio Gor, Rubio is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi later in the day in New Delhi. The visit comes at a time when Washington and New Delhi are seeking to deepen cooperation on strategic and economic issues amid evolving global geopolitical challenges.
Taking to social media platform X , Gor posted: “Honored to welcome my friend Sec Rubio to India! We have an ambitious agenda ahead, including the Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting, focused on advancing POTUS’ vision for an even stronger US-India partnership. Looking forward to great conversations and making real progress together!”
The top US diplomat will also hold bilateral talks with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Sunday and is set to attend Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Delhi on Tuesday. Discussions are expected to focus on the Indo-Pacific, defence cooperation, trade, energy security and regional stability.
India is set to host the Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in New Delhi on May 26. At the invitation of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Marco Rubio, Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong, and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi will visit India to attend the Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.
Ahead of his visit to India, Rubio said that Washington wants to expand energy ties with New Delhi and deepen coordination through the Quad, while describing India as a “great ally” and “great partner” amid global supply disruptions linked to the Strait of Hormuz.
Leaving for India, with a stopover in Europe, Rubio told reporters in Miami that the US was ready to increase energy exports to India as concerns grow over disruptions to global oil and gas supplies following tensions in West Asia.
“We wanna sell them as much energy as they’ll buy,” Rubio said when asked about India being “deeply affected” by the energy supply situation and the shutting of the Strait of Hormuz. “Obviously, you’ve seen, I think we’re at historic levels of US production and US export. We wanna be able to do more.”
Rubio said discussions with India on energy cooperation were already underway and would continue during his the visit.
“We were already in talks with them to do more. We want next week as well. So there are opportunities,” he said.
The Secretary of State described India as an increasingly important strategic partner for the United States.
“There’s a lot to work on with India. They’re a great ally, a great partner. We do a lot of good work with them,” Rubio said. “It is an important trip. I’m glad we’re able to do it because I think there’ll be a lot for us to talk about.”
Rubio also underscored the significance of the Quad grouping. “We’ll also meet with the Quad there, which is important,” he said.
(IANS)
