US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s latest visit to India has stirred fresh controversy and anger in the country’s politics. It is his second trip to India in six months, but this time, surprisingly, he is not going to the capital, New Delhi, at all.
Instead, Rubio will meet External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday (19 October) in Mumbai, India’s financial capital. After the meeting he will visit a large Reliance Industries oil refinery in Jamnagar, Gujarat. According to the US State Department, the main aim of the trip is to strengthen ties in trade, investment and energy.
The row began with a remark by Sergio Gor, the US ambassador in Delhi. He made clear that Washington had asked India’s foreign minister to come to Mumbai to meet the US secretary of state.
Opposition leaders have sharply criticised the Modi government over India’s top diplomat being called in this way on home soil. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said mockingly that it was as if Marco Rubio had ordered one of his own staff to report to him in Mumbai.
Other opposition leaders said that accepting such an instruction from a foreign state at home is a serious affront to India’s diplomatic standing.
Diplomatic analysts say the episode adds fuel to strains between Washington and New Delhi over high trade tariffs and India’s purchases of Russian oil.
Although the visit appears built around energy and economic interests, putting India’s foreign minister in this position has caused a fierce political row at home.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report