The Ministry of External Affairs, responding on Friday to the Congress party's claim that External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had been "summoned" to Mumbai for a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, noted that hosting foreign visitors in various Indian cities has been a routine feature of the country's diplomatic engagements over the past decade. Stops in Mumbai and the Jamnagar area of Gujarat are on Rubio's itinerary, marking a second trip to India within the same calendar year.
A previous visit in May brought Rubio through Kolkata and New Delhi for the Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting, where he participated alongside counterparts from the other member nations. New Delhi will not feature on his upcoming travel itinerary.
The trip unfolds against a backdrop of unresolved tensions between the two countries spanning visa and immigration policy, Washington's ties to Pakistan's military establishment, the possibility of new penalties linked to Indian purchases of Russian oil, and the ease with which Indian nationals travel to and work in the United States. At a scheduled press interaction, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal drew attention to a pattern of recent bilateral engagements, noting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had received Spain's Pedro Sanchez in Vadodara in October 2024, welcomed Germany's Friedrich Merz to Ahmedabad in January of this year, and hosted Mauritius's Navinchandra Ramgoolam in Varanasi in September 2025.
Diplomatic engagements under Jaishankar's stewardship have spanned the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation foreign ministers' gathering convened in Goa, a bilateral reception for Botswana's foreign minister at Kevadia in Gujarat, and — reaching back to 2016 — a Heart of Asia Conference that Amritsar played host to.
Scheduled for 19–20 October, a two-day visit to India by UAE Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan will see the Emirati official received by Jaishankar in Mumbai. A meeting with Rubio is scheduled for 20 October, alongside an appearance as guest of honour at festivities marking 250 years since US independence.
Agenda items spanning the India-UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership — energy, trade, investment flows, fintech, defence, and connectivity — are set to be worked through by both officials. Spokesperson Jaiswal added that regional developments in West Asia, along with wider global and multilateral questions, will also feature in the discussions.
According to a statement from the Ministry of External Affairs, Rubio's upcoming trip to India is expected to give both nations an opportunity to review the bilateral relationship. On the agenda are topics spanning energy, trade and investment, defence, and emerging technologies, alongside other shared priorities between the two sides. Broader conversations covering both regional and international matters are set to form part of the agenda between the two delegations.
Jaiswal noted that the trip was expected to keep bilateral relations active at a senior level while advancing goals the two nations hold in common.
Remarks by US envoy Sergio Gor at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum — where he indicated that Secretary of State Rubio would hold meetings with Indian government officials in Mumbai and that External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar was anticipated to attend — drew a response from Congress party leadership. Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi was among those who characterised the phrasing as implying that India's foreign minister had been called to the meeting rather than invited as a counterpart. A Wednesday announcement from the State Department placed Rubio's itinerary in Mumbai and at Jamnagar in Gujarat, with the visits framed around advancing energy ties between the two countries.
India's foreign ministry spokesperson Jaiswal conveyed that a reported plot to carry out a mass shooting at a Hindu temple in Illinois had prompted considerable unease within the government in New Delhi. New Delhi urged Washington to take responsibility for the welfare and physical safety of Indian nationals residing on American soil. Authorities took a 19-year-old into custody in Palatine, a suburb outside Chicago, on suspicion of plotting an attack on the Sri Venkateswara Temple located in Aurora, Illinois. A mechanical failure in the weapon left the individual unable to discharge it. On 14 October, a court proceeding brought forward two formal counts against the person — one relating to an alleged terrorist threat and another tied to unlawful weapons possession.
Scheduling of the prime minister's visit to Canada remains a matter being worked out between the two governments, Jaiswal noted, with no dates yet finalised. Talks between Anita Anand and her Indian counterpart S. Jaishankar took place during the Canadian foreign minister's visit to India earlier that week, with a separate audience granted by Prime Minister Modi also forming part of her schedule.
Unnamed sources have placed Modi in Ottawa on 11–12 December, with onward travel to Florida pencilled in for the Group of 20 Summit. A trip to Brussels for the India-European Union free trade agreement ceremony on 16–17 December forms part of the anticipated schedule, with a stop in Berlin also on the itinerary. Talks between the two countries have extended to the possibility of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney travelling to New Delhi as the guest of honour at the following year's Republic Day celebrations.
