US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will pay a four-day visit to India starting May 23 to enhance cooperation in trade, defense and energy.
This will be his first visit to India.
The State Department announced the visit, which will take Rubio to Kolkata, Agra, Jaipur and New Delhi.
“Secretary Rubio will travel to India from May 23 to 26, where he will visit Kolkata, Agra, Jaipur, and New Delhi,” State Department spokesman Tommy Piggott said.
Piggott said the minister will discuss cooperation in the areas of energy, security, trade and defense during his meetings with senior Indian officials.
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 “on his first visit to India, the Quad ministerial meetings, high-level engagements, and the celebration of America’s 250th anniversary.”
India is scheduled to host a meeting of Quad foreign ministers next week that is expected to discuss pressing global challenges, including the repercussions of the West Asian crisis.
The New Delhi meeting is scheduled for May 26, and is scheduled to be attended by Rubio, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu, and chaired by Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.