US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to hold his first bilateral meeting with Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar later on Tuesday.
Jaishankar is in the U.S. at the invitation of the government to attend the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th President of the United States. Trump was sworn in as president on Monday.
“Secretary Rubio meets with Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar at the Department of State,” the State Department announced, releasing Rubio’s schedule on his first day as America’s top diplomat.
The meeting between the two senior diplomats, representing the world’s oldest and largest democracies, will take place at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department. It follows the first QUAD ministerial meeting held in the same building. “Secretary Rubio meets with Indo-Pacific Quad Foreign Ministers at the Department of State,” the advisory noted.
QUAD, an informal group comprising Australia, India, Japan, and the U.S., was initiated during Trump’s first term. It was later elevated to a leadership-level forum under the Biden administration.
Rubio’s decision to prioritize meetings with the QUAD ministerial and India as his first multilateral and bilateral engagements underscores the new administration’s focus on the Indo-Pacific region. This marks a shift from the traditional first foreign outreach of U.S. administrations, which typically engage with neighboring Canada and Mexico or NATO allies.
Rubio, a former U.S. Senator from Florida, was confirmed by the Senate with a unanimous 99-0 vote. The sole vacancy in the Senate is due to Vice President J.D. Vance resigning as Senator from Ohio. Rubio himself cast a vote in favor of his confirmation.
As a 53-year-old Senator, Rubio introduced a bill in Congress last year proposing to elevate India’s status to align with U.S. allies such as Japan, Israel, South Korea, and NATO members for technology transfers and support in safeguarding India’s territorial integrity. The bill also sought to bar Pakistan from receiving security assistance if found sponsoring terrorism against India.
Rubio, who served as a U.S. Senator from Florida from January 3, 2011, to January 20, 2025, is known for his hawkish stance on China. Sanctioned twice by China in 2020, Rubio is barred from entering the country. As the top Republican member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, he is also the first Latino to serve as U.S. Secretary of State.
