US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday arrived in Kolkata as part of his four-day diplomatic visit to India. It is Rubio's first trip to India and also the first time a US secretary of state is visiting the eastern metropolis after 2012.
The crucial visit of the American leader comes just weeks after the BJP assumed power in West Bengal, registering a landslide victory in the Assembly elections.
After arriving in the city, Rubio visited Mother House, the headquarters of Saint Teresa's Missionaries of Charity and spoke to the officials.
The Missionaries of Charity, founded by Mother Teresa in Kolkata, is a Catholic congregation dedicated to serving the poor, sick and destitute across the world.
Accompanied by US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor and other officials, Rubio later visited Nirmala Shishu Bhavan - a children's home run by Missionaries of Charity - during his Kolkata stopover.
"Joined @SecRubio in Kolkata for a visit to the Missionaries of Charity. Moments like these remind us the US-India partnership rests not only on strong policies, but also on shared values and the spirit of selfless service that transcends borders," the US Ambassador to India posted on X.
Earlier in the day, welcoming the American leader to India, Gor wrote in a post on X, "Honored to welcome my friend @SecRubio to India! We have an ambitious agenda ahead, including the Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting, focused on advancing @POTUS ' vision for an even stronger U.S.-India partnership. Looking forward to great conversations and making real progress together!"
Rubio became the first US secretary of state to set foot in Kolkata since Hillary Clinton visited the city in May 2012.
Rubio's India itinerary, scheduled from May 23 to 26 and also encompassing Agra, Jaipur, and New Delhi, is being viewed as diplomatically significant for his scheduled energy talks with India and the meeting with ministers from the Quad nations.
"Well, we want to sell them as much energy as they'll buy. And obviously, you've seen I think we're at historic levels of US production, and US export," Rubio told reporters in Miami before he embarked on the trip to Sweden and India.
Responding to a question about India being affected by high energy prices due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Rubio described India as a "great partner" and said he was looking forward to meeting with ministers from the Quad nations.
The Quad meeting is planned for May 26, and it is scheduled to be attended by Rubio, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu, with Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar presiding over it.
(With inputs from PTI)
