US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit India next week to strengthen bilateral energy cooperation, the US Department of State said on Tuesday.
Rubio will travel to Samarkand in Uzbekistan before visiting Mumbai and Jamnagar in India from October 17 to 22.
The visit will mark Rubio’s second trip to India since May, when he attended the Quad Foreign Ministers’ meeting hosted by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in New Delhi.
During his India visit, Rubio is expected to meet senior government officials to strengthen the US-India strategic partnership, exchange views on regional and global developments, and explore opportunities to expand energy cooperation, the State Department said.
He will also hold discussions with business leaders to promote commercial investment and deepen economic ties between the two countries.
Rubio’s planned visit to Jamnagar is significant as the city houses Reliance Industries’ refinery, considered the world’s largest single-site refining complex, with an estimated capacity to process 1.4 million barrels of crude oil per day.
In March, US President Donald Trump announced plans to build the country’s first refinery in five decades, with investment from Reliance Industries.
Trump said the refinery would be established in Brownsville, Texas, at a projected cost of USD 300 billion.
Before arriving in India, Rubio will participate in the C5+1 Ministerial meeting in Samarkand. The platform aims to strengthen strategic cooperation between the United States and five Central Asian nations: Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and the Kyrgyz Republic.
Rubio is also scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with senior officials from all five countries. A US commercial delegation comprising more than 200 business leaders will accompany him to explore opportunities for expanded trade and investment across Central Asia.
Separately, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday reiterated his pledge to distribute $5,000 cheques to every adult American citizen if Republicans retain control of Congress following the upcoming midterm elections.
Trump presented the proposed payments as a potential outcome of the economic policies pursued by his party, saying, “I’m going to give all adult citizens in the United States of America $5000.”
