US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s upcoming visit to India will have a stronger focus on business. The visit has meetings lined up with Indian government officials in Mumbai and Reliance representatives in Jamnagar, US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor said on Thursday.
Speaking at an interactive session at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum, Gor said Rubio would have several meetings in Mumbai. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and other officials from Delhi are also expected to meet him there.
Rubio will be in India from October 17 to 22, post a visit to Samarkand in Uzbekistan. The trip is aimed at strengthening energy cooperation was mentioned by the US Department of State said on Tuesday.
This will be Rubio’s second official visit to India in a year. During his previous visit in May, he attended the Quad Foreign Ministers’ meeting hosted by Jaishankar in New Delhi.
Gor said the upcoming trip would be different from Rubio’s earlier visit. The trip include stops in Delhi, Kolkata and parts of Rajasthan. This time, the focus will be more on business, he said, pointing to the growth in trade between India and the US.
Rubio will also travel to Jamnagar to meet people from Reliance, Gor said, referring to the company’s large oil refining operations.
Asked about the presence of Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, Gor said he expected him to attend. He added that Ambani runs the company.
Gor also spoke about Reliance’s investment in a proposed refinery in Brownsville, Texas. US President Donald Trump announced the project in March and pegged its cost at $300 billion, describing it as the first new refinery in the US in 50 years.
Reliance’s Jamnagar complex has the capacity to process 1.4 million barrels of crude oil a day and is the world’s largest single-site refining facility.
(With PTI inputs)