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India’s opposition Congress has questioned the handling of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s upcoming visit, with Rahul Gandhi accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government of appearing subservient to Washington after a US envoy publicly announced an expected meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Mumbai.
The controversy centres on Rubio’s planned visit to Mumbai and Jamnagar in Gujarat, rather than New Delhi, and the announcement by US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor that Jaishankar was expected to join Rubio for talks in Mumbai on October 20.
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) confirmed on Friday that Jaishankar would meet Rubio in Mumbai and attend events marking the 250th anniversary of US independence as the Guest of Honour.
Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, took a swipe at Modi in a social media post, saying, “Rubio has summoned his employee to Mumbai.”
“Modi, your officials in the External Affairs Ministry are confused about what’s going on. You might want to explain. Unless, of course, you want me to,” he added.
The remarks intensified a political debate over whether Washington was exerting undue influence on India’s foreign policy and why the US side appeared to announce the expected bilateral engagement before New Delhi formally confirmed it.
Gor had said at a media event on Thursday that Rubio would meet Indian government officials in Mumbai.
“We expect Minister Dr Jaishankar will be joining us there,” the US ambassador said, adding that Rubio’s visit would be “a little more business focused”.
The MEA subsequently confirmed the meeting and defended the choice of venue, saying India had hosted foreign dignitaries in cities outside New Delhi on several occasions over the past decade.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal cited Prime Minister Modi’s meetings with the Spanish prime minister in Vadodara, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Ahmedabad and the prime minister of Mauritius in Varanasi.
He also referred to Jaishankar’s participation in a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation foreign ministers’ meeting in Goa, his meeting with Botswana’s foreign minister in Kevadia, Gujarat, and the Heart of Asia conference in Amritsar.
The ministry said Rubio’s visit would provide an opportunity for India and the United States to review bilateral relations and strengthen their Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership.
Discussions are expected to cover energy, trade, investment, defence, critical and emerging technologies, and regional and global developments.
However, the clarification addressed the venue and agenda of the meeting without directly responding to the opposition’s criticism that a US representative had publicly announced the expected participation of India’s foreign minister before the Indian government confirmed the engagement.
Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh and Pawan Khera also criticised the handling of the announcement.
Ramesh, a Rajya Sabha member, said it was not surprising that the US ambassador had provided details of Rubio’s visit. He questioned, however, why the announcement of the Indian foreign minister’s engagements within the country appeared to have come from someone other than the MEA’s official spokesperson.
Khera, the Congress’s national spokesperson, argued that the episode raised concerns about India’s diplomatic standing, saying that the prospect of a foreign government “summoning” India’s external affairs minister on Indian soil represented a new low.
Rubio’s visit comes at a sensitive time for India-US relations, with trade negotiations yet to produce a final agreement.
Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal recently said the first phase of a proposed trade deal was undergoing legal drafting.
Relations have also been affected by US measures targeting countries that purchase Russian oil and gas. The legislation commonly known as the Graham sanctions bill would give the US president authority to impose tariffs of up to 100 per cent on imports from countries purchasing Russian energy, including India and China.
Rubio, who is making his second visit to India in six months, is scheduled to travel to Mumbai and Jamnagar, home to Reliance Industries’ major refinery complex. The visit is expected to focus substantially on commercial and energy cooperation.
The trip will be closely watched for signs of progress in trade negotiations and the broader strategic partnership, as both governments seek to navigate differences over energy, tariffs and other international issues. Source: India Today