New Delhi, May 23: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday and extended an invitation on behalf of US President Donald Trump for the Prime Minister to visit the White House in the near future.
The development was announced by US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor in a post on X, where he said: “News! Secretary Marco Rubio extended an invite on behalf of President Donald Trump, for Prime Minister Modi to visit the White House in the near future!”
During the meeting, Rubio briefed the Prime Minister on progress in bilateral cooperation across sectors including defence, strategic technologies, trade and investment, energy security, connectivity, education and people-to-people ties.
The US Secretary of State also shared the American perspective on various regional and global issues, including the situation in West Asia.
Prime Minister Modi reaffirmed India’s support for peace efforts and reiterated the need for peaceful resolution of conflicts through dialogue and diplomacy. He also requested Rubio to convey his warm greetings to President Trump and said he looked forward to continued exchanges with him.
Earlier in the day, Rubio arrived in Kolkata for a four-day diplomatic visit to India, marking the first visit by a US secretary of state to the city in 14 years since Hillary Clinton visited in 2012.
According to PTI, Rubio’s India tour from May 23 to 26 includes visits to Kolkata, Agra, Jaipur and New Delhi, and is expected to focus on trade, technology, defence, energy cooperation and the Quad partnership.
Before departing for India, Rubio described India as a “great partner” and said the US wanted to sell India as much energy as it could buy.
The Quad meeting is scheduled for May 26 and is expected to be attended by Rubio, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.
