Washington: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will host foreign ministers of the G20 in Atlanta on October 30-31, with Washington putting threats to freedom of navigation, energy and food security and supply chains at the top of the agenda, the State Department said on Monday.
The meeting will be the last major ministerial gathering of the grouping before President Donald Trump hosts the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Miami in December.
“Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Atlanta, Georgia from October 30–31 to host the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting,” the State Department said in a media note.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, the United States is returning the G20 to its core economic mission of driving growth, strengthening economic security, and delivering results for the American people,” it said.
The department said Rubio would “convene foreign ministers from the world’s leading economies to advance practical cooperation on shared economic and security challenges.”
“Throughout the ministerial, the United States will work with G20 partners to address geopolitical crises contributing to global economic shocks, including threats to freedom of navigation, energy and food security, and supply chains,” the media note said.
“Global security and economic prosperity are inextricably linked, and these discussions will set the stage for President Trump’s G20 Leaders’ Summit and the broader economic agenda that leaders will tackle,” it added.
The note described Atlanta as “a global hub of diplomacy, connectivity, and commerce.”
The State Department did not release a list of participating ministers or a schedule of bilateral meetings.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is expected to attend the meeting. Quad foreign ministers from India, the US, Japan and Australia would meet on the sidelines.
The focus on freedom of navigation and energy security comes as global fuel markets have been unsettled by the US military campaign against Iran.
Supply chain resilience has also been a recurring theme of India-US cooperation, including in the Quad.
The State Department first announced in May that Rubio would host the Atlanta meeting, saying discussions would focus on “strengthening international cooperation, addressing global economic challenges, and supporting open markets and resilient supply chains.”
The United States holds the G20 presidency in 2026 and has listed affordable and secure energy and technological innovation among its priorities.
The G20 Leaders’ Summit is scheduled for December 14-15 at Trump National Doral in Miami.
The G20 brings together 19 countries, the European Union and the African Union, and accounts for the bulk of global economic output and trade. India held the G20 presidency in 2023.
(IANS)
