Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday questioned the government over US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's proposed meeting with Indian government officials in Mumbai next week, claiming that officials of the External Affairs Ministry were "confused" over it. He also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi may want to explain the matter.
The Congress leader's remarks came a day after US envoy Sergio Gor said Rubio will meet Indian government officials in Mumbai and "we expect that minister Dr S Jaishankar will be there".
In a post on X, Gandhi said, "Mr Rubio has summoned his employee to Mumbai. Modi ji, 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."
There was no immediate comment from either the government or the BJP on Gandhi's remark.
Rubio will travel to India next week where he would visit the Reliance unit at Jamnagar in Gujarat and would later meet officials of the External Affairs Ministry in Mumbai.
The Congress on Thursday had taken a swipe at the Modi government over Rubio’s visit to India and asked why is the Ministry of External Affairs silent on External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's “tryst” with the American leader in Mumbai.
Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh had said it is not surprising that Gor has just given more details on Rubio’s forthcoming visit to Mumbai.
“It is also not wholly surprising to hear him say that Mr Rubio will meet Government of India officials in Mumbai. But what is quite extraordinary is his statement that ‘we expect the Minister Dr Jaishankar to be joining us there along with other individuals',” Ramesh had said on X.
Since when has the announcement of India’s external affairs minister’s meetings within India been outsourced to somebody other than the official spokesperson of the MEA, Ramesh asked.
During an interactive session at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum, Gor had said that Rubio will meet Indian government officials in Mumbai and “we expect that minister Dr S Jaishankar will be there along with other individuals from Delhi, who will make a trip up there to see him in Mumbai”.
Rubio will first visit Samarkand in Uzbekistan, before travelling to Mumbai and Jamnagar in Gujarat from October 17-22, it said.
(With inputs from PTI)