The US Secretary of State is expected to be in Delhi for a three-day visit from May 24 to 26.
New Delhi: In a bid to deepen India-US ties, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to travel to India for bilateral talks and to attend the Australia-India-Japan-US Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (FMM).
US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor said he hoped to welcome Rubio to India “soon”. According to reports, Rubio is likely to be in Delhi for a three-day visit from May 24 to 26, his first since taking over as Secretary of State last January. He is likely to hold talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and call on PM Narendra Modi, reports said.
“The United States deeply values our growing partnership with India, and we are excited to build even stronger ties that will benefit both our nations and the world,” Gor, who is also US President Donald Trump’s Special Envoy for South and Central Asia, said in a post. “See you soon, Mr Secretary!” he added.
Gor described Rubio as a "good friend" and underlined the importance that the US attaches to its ties with India. "Looking forward to welcoming my good friend Secretary Rubio to India! The United States deeply values our growing partnership with India, and we are excited to build even stronger ties that will benefit both our nations and the world,” Gor posted on X.
Gor's statement comes amid growing diplomatic engagement between India and the US.
Last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump had a telephonic conversation, discussing the current situation in West Asia as well as ways to further strengthen the bilateral partnership.
"Received a call from my friend, President Donald Trump. We reviewed the substantial progress achieved in our bilateral cooperation in various sectors. We are committed to further strengthening our Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership in all areas," PM Modi posted on X after the phone call on April 14.
"We also discussed the situation in West Asia and stressed the importance of keeping the Strait of Hormuz open and secure," he wrote further.
'Very, very close to trade deal'India and the US are "very, very close" to signing the trade deal and need to get over "that last hurdle", US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said. Landau said that India and the US have been negotiating for months and it was important for the two sides to "reach some closure" and move on with the many other issues on the agenda. "We are very aware of India's importance on the world stage. I think it is very important to get a final resolution of that trade deal. We have been talking now for months that we are very close, and I think we are very close. But we have to get over that last hurdle," Landau said on the sidelines of the ‘SelectUSA Investment Summit’ at National Harbor in Maryland. "I don't have any huge inside information to provide on when that is coming, but I can just reiterate that I believe that we are very, very close," said Landau, who recently visited India. "I think ultimately it's important that we reach some closure on that and we finally sign it and move on with the many other issues on our agenda," he said. “India is now poised to have massive economic development and to lift many hundreds of millions of people out of poverty," Landau said. India and the US announced the framework of the bilateral trade agreement on February 2 and released the text of the deal on February 7. Indian negotiators were in the US last month for discussions on the trade agreement. India is seeking preferential access to the US markets as part of the agreement, as the two countries eye the target of achieving bilateral trade of $500 billion by 2030. |
