U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Uzbekistan and India from October 17 to 22, in his second visit to India this year, with the aim of strengthening the bilateral strategic partnership and expanding cooperation in the energy sector.
In India, Rubio will visit Mumbai and Jamnagar in Gujarat, where he will meet senior Indian government officials and prominent business leaders. The talks are expected to cover trade and economic cooperation, as well as regional and international developments, with energy-sector collaboration the central focus. Jamnagar is home to the refineries of Reliance Industries.
Before arriving in India, Rubio will attend the C5+1 foreign ministers’ meeting in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. There, he is expected to discuss using the forum to advance peace, prosperity and strategic cooperation between the United States and Central Asian nations. He will then travel directly to India to continue bilateral discussions.
Defense, technology ties expanding
The visit follows recent remarks by U.S. Ambassador to India Sergio Gor, who said the partnership between the two countries is expanding rapidly in defense, information technology and healthcare. Gor also indicated, without saying so directly, that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump recently spoke by phone, and that Trump could visit India in the near future.
Defense cooperation is already close. More than 500 troops took part in the recent Tarang Shakti military exercise, and advanced U.S. F-35 fighter jets landed in Rajasthan for the first time to join the drills.
Rubio first visited India from May 23 to 26. His return trip has drawn international attention.