Kolkata: United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio showed up in Kolkata on Saturday for his four-day diplomatic trip to India, with the city marking the opening leg of a go to that brings significant political and historic resonance.
His arrival in the eastern city ended a 14-year hiatus considering that an American secretary of state last checked out the city, coming just weeks after West Bengal experienced a landmark political shift with a BJP-led federal government presuming workplace.
In a post on X, United States Ambassador to India Sergio Gor stated, “Secretary Marco Rubio has landed in Kolkata. This is his first trip to India. Later today, we will call on Prime Minister @narendramodi in New Delhi. Trade, Technology, Defense, QUAD, and many other items to discuss and advance over the next few days!”
Rubio ended up being the very first United States secretary of state to enter Kolkata given that Hillary Clinton went to the city in May 2012.
The United States Department of State was yet to release Rubio’s Kolkata schedule, sources in the United States Consulate stated he is most likely to go to Mother House, the head office of Saint Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity in main Kolkata.
Rubio’s India travel plan, arranged from May 23 to 26 and likewise incorporating Agra, Jaipur, and New Delhi, is being considered as diplomatically substantial for his scheduled energy talks with India and the conference with ministers from the Quad countries.
“Well, we want to sell them as much energy as they’ll buy. And obviously, you’ve seen I think we’re at historic levels of US production, and US export,” Rubio informed press reporters in Miami before he started the journey to Sweden and India.
Reacting to a concern about India being impacted by high energy rates due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Rubio explained India as a “great partner” and stated he was anticipating conference with ministers from the Quad countries.
The Quad conference is prepared for May 26, and it is set up to be participated in by Rubio, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu, with Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar commanding it.