The Union government on Friday dismissed the Opposition’s criticism of external affairs minister S Jaishankar travelling to Mumbai to meet his US counterpart Marco Rubio next week by saying it has been the practice over the past decade for foreign dignitaries to be hosted outside New Delhi.
Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Jairam Ramesh had questioned why the US envoy had announced the external affairs minister’s meetings. Rubio is set to travel to Mumbai and Jamnagar, and the Capital is not part of his itinerary. Noting that Jaishankar will also attend a celebration in Mumbai of the 250th anniversary of the independence of the US as the guest of honour, Jaiswal said: “It has been the practice for the last decade or so that we have hosted foreign dignitaries outside Delhi.
Leaders of the Congress party criticised the government after US ambassador Sergio Gor said at a public event that “we expect… Jaishankar to be joining us [in Mumbai]” for the US secretary of state’s visit. Responding to questions on the Opposition’s criticism that the external affairs minister had been “summoned” to Mumbai by the US, external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a regular media briefing that Jaishankar is set to host the United Arab Emirates (UAE)’s deputy prime minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in Mumbai during October 19-20 before holding talks with Rubio. In this context, he said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has in the past hosted his Spanish counterpart in Baroda, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Ahmedabad, and the Mauritius PM Navinchandra Ramgoolam in Varanasi, while the external affairs minister has hosted the foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Goa, the Botswana foreign minister at Kevadia in Gujarat, and the Heart of Asia conference in Amritsar. Gandhi said: “Rubio has summoned his employee to Mumbai.”
Rubio’s visit will allow both sides to review India-US ties and discuss ways to strengthen the bilateral comprehensive global strategic partnership. Reliance is also a major purchaser of energy from Venezuela , sales of which are controlled by the US administration.
“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,” Jaiswal said. People familiar with the matter said that Rubio will travel to Jamnagar for a few hours to visit facilities of energy major Reliance, which has partnered on the construction of America First Refining in Texas, the first new major oil refinery in the US in almost five decades.
