Marco Rubio to visit Mumbai, Jamnagar next week to strengthen India-US ties | India News

US secretary of state Marco Rubio will travel to India next week with a large business delegation and meet Indian officials to strengthen the bilateral strategic partnership and to discuss regional and global issues and prospects for enhanced energy cooperation.This will be Rubio’s second visit to India this year – he last travelled to the country in May, when he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and external affairs minister S Jaishankar and participated in a Quad foreign ministers’ meeting – and comes at a time when India-US relations continue to be affected by strains.Rubio will travel to India from Uzbekistan, the first leg of a two-nation visit, and visit Mumbai and Jamnagar during the trip, the US state department announced on Wednesday. While the announcement didn’t provide the specific dates for the India visit, people familiar with the matter said he is expected to arrive in Mumbai on October 18.Also read: 'Aim to frustrate US efforts': Iran's new tactics to target ships in Hormuz; trigger Trump's fuel price worries ahead of midtermsHe will meet senior Indian officials to “strengthen the US-India strategic partnership, exchange views on regional and global dynamics, and discuss prospects for enhanced energy cooperation”, the US state department said. Rubio will also meet business leaders to promote opportunities for commercial investment and economic cooperation.Rubio will be accompanied by a commercial delegation comprising more than 200 business leaders. A business event will be held in Mumbai, and the people said Jaishankar is expected to go to the financial hub for talks with Rubio.US-India ties have been rocky in recent months because of a range of issues, including the whimsical trade and tariff policies of the Trump administration, the Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act (SRIA) that allows President Donald Trump to impose tariffs of up to 100% on India for purchasing Russian energy, Trump's repeated claims of brokering an India-Pakistan ceasefire in 2025, and a US military attack ‌on ⁠a merchant vessel off Oman that killed three Indian seafarers.Also read: HT interview: ‘Can’t do much nowadays without a little pushback,’ says Montana guv Greg Gianforte on India trip backlashIndian officials have cautioned that the SRIA can have implications for bilateral relations and the global energy market. Russia continues to be India’s main energy supplier. More recently, senior Indian and US officials have indicated that long-running efforts to finalise a bilateral trade agreement have stalled again.While in Uzbekistan, Rubio will participate in the C5+1 ministerial meeting that will focus on strategic cooperation between the US and Central Asian states. He will also participate in bilateral engagements with senior officials from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan.