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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Mumbai and Jamnagar as part of his trip to India in October, with meetings planned with senior Indian government officials to strengthen the bilateral strategic partnership and explore enhanced energy cooperation.
Rubio will visit India and Uzbekistan between October 17 and 22. According to a media note issued by the US Department of State on Tuesday (local time), Rubio will travel to Samarkand in Uzbekistan, followed by Mumbai and Jamnagar in India. The visit will mark his second official trip to India this year. During his India visit, Rubio will meet senior government officials to "strengthen the US-India strategic partnership, exchange views on regional and global dynamics, and discuss prospects for enhanced energy cooperation", the press note stated. The US Secretary of State will also meet business leaders to promote opportunities for commercial investment and economic cooperation between the two countries. Before arriving in India, Rubio will participate in the C5+1 Ministerial in Uzbekistan, where he will highlight how strategic cooperation through the diplomatic platform promotes "a more peaceful and prosperous future for the United States and the countries of Central Asia". He will also hold bilateral engagements with senior officials from the five Central Asian countries participating in the platform: Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and the Kyrgyz Republic. The visit to Uzbekistan will also include a US commercial delegation comprising more than 200 business leaders, which the State Department said would help usher in "a new era of strengthened commercial cooperation for the United States and Central Asia". The upcoming visit comes as earlier on Monday, US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor highlighted growing cooperation between New Delhi and Washington across defence, information technology, and healthcare, saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump had spoken recently. Speaking at an event in Kolkata marking the 250th anniversary of American independence, Gor described India as an important partner for the United States and said the city played a significant role in Washington's engagement with the country. Highlighting defence cooperation, the US Ambassador pointed to recent military exercises involving Indian and American forces and the participation of US defence platforms in activities in India. If you look at defence, in the last two weeks alone, we have conducted exercises involving more than 500 troops at Tarang Shakti. We also had F-35s in Rajasthan for the first time, he said. Gor also highlighted expanding cooperation in information technology, noting that businesses from both countries were investing across borders and establishing production facilities. In terms of IT development, incredible things are happening in both directions, with investments in the United States and some of our companies opening large production facilities here in India. It is an incredible opportunity, he said. On healthcare, Gor said the US imported a significant volume of generic pharmaceuticals from India, reflecting confidence in the country's pharmaceutical industry. "In healthcare, we import a significant amount of our generic pharmaceuticals from India. This is because we trust India. There is a lot happening. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump spoke just last week, so stay tuned for what comes next," he said. Referring to the high-level engagement between the two countries, Gor said PM Modi and Trump had spoken the previous week, expressing anticipation over further developments in bilateral relations. Meanwhile, Rubio's last visit to India took place from May 23 to 26. (ANI)
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