Indian ministers have hosted foreign dignitaries outside Delhi several times in the past decade, the government clarified on Friday after Rahul Gandhi raised questions about external affairs minister S. Jaishankar travelling to Mumbai to meet US secretary of state Marco Rubio.
“Mr Rubio has summoned his employee to Mumbai,” Rahul, leader of the Lok Sabha Opposition, had said in a post on X earlier in the day.
“Modi ji, your officials in the External Affairs Ministry are confused about what’s going on. You might want to explain. Unless, of course, you want me to.”
Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal later sought to clear the air while responding to questions on the upcoming meetings in Mumbai.
“It is the practice in the last decade to host foreign dignitaries from time to time in various cities of India. The Prime Minister hosted the PM of Spain in Baroda, Chancellor Merz in Ahmedabad, PM of Mauritius in Varanasi,” he said.
“External affairs minister hosted the SCO foreign ministers meeting in Goa; he hosted the foreign minister of Botswana in Kevadia in Gujarat, and the Heart of Asia conference in Amritsar.”
Jaiswal said Jaishankar had two sets of meetings in Mumbai next week. On October 19 and 20, he is to host the Deputy Prime Minister and foreign minister of the UAE, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who is on an official visit.
On October 20, he is to hold talks with Rubio and attend the 250th anniversary celebrations of American independence at the US Consulate in Mumbai as the guest of honour.
Jaiswal sidestepped questions on why Rubio had again been invited to India five months after his May visit.
He said the upcoming meeting would provide an opportunity to review India-US relations and discuss ways to further strengthen the Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership.
The discussions are expected to cover key areas of bilateral cooperation, including energy, trade and investment, defence, and critical and emerging technologies. The two sides will also exchange views on regional and global developments.
Earlier this week, US ambassador Sergio Gor had said Rubio’s second India trip this year would be a little more focused on business.
“He will also be going to Jamnagar, where he will meet some of the folks at Reliance. Reliance is one of the biggest oil refinery companies in the world.… They are opening the first refinery in the United States in 50 years…,” Gor said.
“While he is in Mumbai, he will be meeting with Government of India officials also. We expect the minister, Dr Jaishankar, will be joining us there along with other individuals from Delhi.”
Jaishankar last met Rubio less than a month ago in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. At that meeting, he had flagged India’s concerns about the Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, enacted by the US earlier in September to specifically target India and China.
The Act empowers the US President to increase the duty by up to 100 per cent ad valorem on all goods imported from a country that is among the five largest importers of Russian-origin crude oil or natural gas — if that country knowingly makes new purchases of such products after the bill’s enactment.
Since then, the US has temporarily suspended the restrictions on itself to allow the direct import of Russian diesel under an agreement brokered between President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.