NEW DELHI: The Congress on Thursday questioned the Centre's “silence” on US secretary of state Marco Rubio's upcoming India visit, especially over US ambassador Sergio Gor's statement that US officials “expect” external affairs minister S Jaishankar to meet Rubio in Mumbai."It is not surprising that the US Ambassador to India has just given more details on US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's forthcoming visit to Mumbai. It is also not wholly surprising to hear him say that Mr. Rubio will be meeting Govt of India officials in Mumbai," Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh posted on X.
Ramesh described Gor's remark that US officials “expect” Jaishankar to meet Rubio in Mumbai as “extraordinary” and asked whether the Narendra Modi government had left it to someone other than the ministry of external affairs (MEA) to announce the external affairs minister's engagements within India.“Since when has the announcement of the external affairs minister’s meetings within India been left to someone other than the MEA spokesperson? India is learning about these developments from the US ambassador, just as it first learnt from Mr Rubio himself on the evening of May 10, 2025, that Operation Sindoor had been halted,” he said, referring to the India-Pakistan conflict in May 2025.
"Why is the MEA silent on the External Affairs Minister's tryst with Mr.
Rubio in Mumbai?" the Congress MP added.Ramesh’s remarks came after Gor said during an interactive session that Rubio would meet Indian government officials in Mumbai. “We expect that minister Dr S Jaishankar will be there along with other individuals from Delhi, who will make a trip up there to see him in Mumbai,” Gor said.The US Department of State announced on Tesday that Rubio will visit India from October 17 to 22 to further strengthen energy cooperation. This will be his second visit to India, following his trip in May.He will first travel to Samarkand in Uzbekistan, followed by Mumbai and then Jamnagar in Gujarat.New Delhi has yet to formally announce the US secretary of state's visit to India.