Washington, Oct 14:
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Uzbekistan and India from October 17 to 22 to strengthen strategic and economic ties, with energy cooperation expected to be a key focus of his India visit. He will first travel to Samarkand in Uzbekistan before visiting Mumbai and Jamnagar in India, the US Department of State said.
During his India visit, Rubio will meet senior government officials to discuss the bilateral strategic partnership, regional and global developments, and opportunities to expand energy cooperation. He will also hold discussions with business leaders to promote commercial investment and economic ties between the two countries.
The proposed visit to Jamnagar is significant as the city houses Reliance Industriesâ refinery complex, the worldâs largest single-site refinery, with a capacity to process 1.4 million barrels of crude oil a day. In March, US President Donald Trump announced plans for a new refinery in Brownsville, Texas, with investment from Reliance Industries.
Rubioâs visit will be his second trip to India since May, when he attended the Quad Foreign Ministersâ meeting in New Delhi hosted by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. His engagements in Uzbekistan will include the C5+1 ministerial meeting and bilateral discussions with officials from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan. A US commercial delegation comprising more than 200 business leaders will accompany him to promote economic cooperation with Central Asian countries.