When US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in India on Saturday, Iran slammed him with a ‘sabhyata’ comment on X. Rubio arrived in New Delhi on Saturday on his first official visit to India as the two countries look to reset bilateral ties that have faced headwinds since the middle of last year.
“Thoda seek lo yaar… ‘crash course sabhyata ka’ free mein mil jayega!” Iran’s consulate in Mumbai wrote in a post on X, citing Rubio’s post upon his arrival in India. Track updates about Rubio’s visit to India
Sabhyata is a Hindi word meaning civility, culture or civilisation.
There is still ambiguity about the unilateral statement made by the Iranian consulate, but it may be a reference to a statement made by US President Donald Trump in early April when he threatened and said that “an entire civilization will die tonight” if Iran did not agree to a peace deal and open the Strait of Hormuz.
“An entire civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want it to happen, but it probably will. However, now that we have a complete and comprehensive regime change, where different, smarter, less extreme minds prevail, perhaps something wonderfully revolutionary can happen. Who knows? We will find out tonight, and it is one of the most important moments in the world’s long and complicated history. 47 years of extortion, corruption and death will finally come to an end. God bless our great people.” Iran!” Trump wrote in a post on the Truth Social website. He was condemned for these statements, which were described as “genocide.”
Rubio in India
Rubio will meet and hold wide-ranging talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, apart from his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and attending the Quad foreign ministers’ meeting in New Delhi.
The US Secretary of State arrived in Kolkata this morning and visited the Mother House – the headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity of Saint Teresa – before heading to the national capital.
On Sunday, Rubio is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with Jaishankar and attend Independence Day celebrations held by the US Embassy. The foreign minister will travel to Agra and Jaipur on Monday before returning to Delhi on Tuesday morning to attend the Quad foreign ministers’ meeting.
Ways to strengthen India-US ties in the areas of energy, trade, investment, biotechnology and people-to-people exchanges are likely to dominate the talks between Jaishankar and Rubio, people familiar with the matter said.
The two sides are also expected to discuss the West Asian crisis and its economic impact, including energy supply.
Rubio’s trip to India comes more than five weeks after Foreign Minister Vikram Masri made a three-day visit to Washington, D.C., focused on stabilizing relations after a period of uncertainty and tension.
Relations between the two countries witnessed a significant decline after Washington imposed punitive tariffs on India, and President Donald Trump’s controversial statements regarding his role in calming the military clashes between India and Pakistan last May.
With input from agencies
