Rejecting the Congress party’s criticism that the United States “summoned” External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to Mumbai for a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday said that hosting foreign dignitaries in various Indian cities from time to time has been the practice over the last decade.
Rubio will visit Mumbai and Gujarat’s Jamnagar. It will be his second visit to India this year. He visited Kolkata and New Delhi in May, where he attended the Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting. He will not visit New Delhi during his forthcoming visit. The visit comes amid bumps in India-US relations over immigration, the White House’s proximity to Pakistan’s military leadership, the threat of fresh sanctions over India’s purchase of Russian crude and the mobility of Indians to the US.
Addressing the MEA’s biweekly media briefing here, spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal pointed out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez in Vadodara in October 2024, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Ahmedabad in January this year and Mauritian PM Navinchandra Ramgoolam in Varanasi in September 2025. External Affairs Minister Jaishankar has hosted the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation foreign ministers’ meeting in Goa and the foreign minister of Botswana in Gujarat’s Kevadia, and India hosted the Heart of Asia Conference in Amritsar in 2016.
In Mumbai, Jaishankar will host Deputy Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who is coming to India for an official visit on October 19-20. On October 20, he will hold talks with Rubio and attend the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the independence of the US as the guest of honour.
Jaishankar and the UAE Deputy PM will review all facets of bilateral cooperation under the India-UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, including energy, trade and investments, fintech, defence and connectivity. “They will naturally have a detailed exchange of views on the situation in West Asia as also on global and multilateral issues,” Jaiswal said.
The MEA spokesperson said Rubio’s India visit will provide an opportunity for both sides to review India-US relations. 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, he said. The two sides will also exchange views on regional and global developments. The visit will provide an opportunity to sustain the high-level engagement between the two countries and advance our shared priorities, Jaiswal said.
During an interactive session at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum here on Thursday, US envoy Sergio Gor said Rubio will meet Indian government officials in Mumbai and “we expect that minister Dr S Jaishankar will be there”. Gor’s comment had the Congress leadership, including Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, stating that the US leadership has taken to “summoning” India’s external affairs minister. The US State Department announced on Wednesday that Rubio will travel to Mumbai and Gujarat’s Jamnagar to further strengthen bilateral energy cooperation.
MEA spokesperson Jaiswal described the alleged plot to carry out a mass shooting targeting a Hindu temple in Illinois as a matter of “deep concern” for New Delhi. India called on the US to ensure the safety, security and well-being of Indian nationals in that country. A 19-year-old was arrested in Palatine near Chicago for allegedly planning a mass shooting at the Sri Venkateswara Temple in Aurora, Illinois, on Sunday. The plan failed because the gun carried by the teenager jammed and could not fire. He appeared in court on October 14 and was charged with one count of making a terrorist threat and one count of unlawful possession of weapons.
Jaiswal also said that the dates for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Canada are currently “under discussion” between the two sides. Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand was in India earlier this week and met Jaishankar and also called on Prime Minister Modi. According to sources, Modi is likely to visit Ottawa on December 11-12 and proceed from there to Florida in the US to attend the Group of 20 Summit. He is then likely to be in Brussels for the signing of the India-European Union free trade agreement on December 16-17 and also visit Berlin, Germany. India and Canada are also discussing Carney’s visit to New Delhi to be the chief guest at next year’s Republic Day parade.
