The government on Friday sought to address the opposition’s criticism of external affairs minister S Jaishankar travelling to Mumbai to meet US secretary of state Marco Rubio next week and said it has been a practice over the past decade for foreign dignitaries to be hosted outside New Delhi.
Congress leaders had earlier criticised the government after US ambassador Sergio Gor said at a public event that “we expect…Jaishankar to be joining us [in Mumbai]” for Rubio's visit. Rubio is set to travel to Mumbai and Jamnagar, and the capital is not part of his itinerary.
Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Jairam Ramesh had questioned why the US envoy had announced the external affairs minister’s meetings, with Gandhi saying “Rubio has summoned his employee to Mumbai”.
Responding to questions on the opposition’s criticism that the external affairs minister had been “summoned” to Mumbai by the US, external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said Jaishankar is set to host the United Arab Emirates (UAE)’s deputy prime minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Mumbai between October 19 and 20 before holding talks with Rubio.
Noting that Jaishankar will also attend a celebration in Mumbai of the 250th anniversary of the independence of the US as the guest of honour, Jaiswal said: “It has been the practice for the last decade or so that we have hosted foreign dignitaries outside Delhi.”
In this context, he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted his Spanish counterpart in Baroda, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Ahmedabad, and the Mauritius PM in Varanasi, while the external affairs minister hosted the foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Goa, the Botswana foreign minister at Kevadia in Gujarat, and the Heart of Asia conference in Amritsar.
Jaiswal said UAE PM'visit is an opportunity to review all aspects of India-UAE cooperation under their comprehensive strategic partnership. “The two delegations will assess and take forward initiatives in the areas of energy, trade and investments, fintech, defence and connectivity,” he said.
They will also have a detailed discussion on the situation in West Asia and global and multilateral issues.
Rubio’s visit will allow both sides to review India-US ties and discuss ways to strengthen the bilateral comprehensive global strategic partnership. “Discussions are expected to cover key areas of bilateral cooperation, including energy, trade and investment, defence, critical and emerging technologies, and other areas of mutual interest,” Jaiswal said.
The two sides will discuss regional and global developments, and the visit will be an opportunity to sustain high-level engagement between the two countries and advance shared priorities, he said.
During his last visit to India in May, Rubio had participated in a Quad foreign ministers’ meeting and hosted a reception in New Delhi to mark the 250th anniversary of US independence.
People familiar with the matter said Rubio will travel to Jamnagar for a few hours to visit facilities of energy major Reliance, which has partnered on the construction of America First Refining in Texas, the first new major oil refinery in the US in almost five decades. Reliance is also a major purchaser of energy from Venezuela, sales of which are controlled by the US administration.