US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit India for Quad talks in New Delhi amid growing debate over the alliance’s strategic relevance, Indo-Pacific security, and India-US ties.
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio will undertake a four-day visit to India beginning May 23 to further cooperation in the fields of trade, defence and energy.
This will be his first visit to India.
The Department of State announced the visit that would take Rubio to Kolkata, Agra, Jaipur and New Delhi.
"Secretary Rubio will travel to India from May 23-26, where he will visit Kolkata, Agra, Jaipur, and New Delhi," State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said.
The Secretary will discuss energy, security, trade, and defence cooperation during meetings with senior Indian officials, Pigott said.
Rubio will travel to India from Sweden, where he will attend the NATO Foreign Ministers meeting on May 22.
Meanwhile, the US embassy in New Delhi said that India will host a meeting of the 'Quad' group, which includes Australia, Japan and the United States.
The embassy said Secretary of State Marco Rubio would attend the meeting and that it looked forward to welcoming him 'for his first visit to India, ministerial Quad meetings, high level engagements, and celebrating 250 years of America'.
India is set to host a meeting of Quad foreign ministers next week that is expected to deliberate on pressing global challenges, including the fallout of the West Asia crisis.
The New Delhi meeting is planned for May 26, and it is scheduled to be attended by Rubio, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu, with Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar presiding over it.