New York: External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is scheduled to meet with United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio in New York on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session. The meeting is set to be held at 11 am EST (8:30 PM IST) on Monday, as per the schedule of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio released by the US State Department.
The meeting is part of the ongoing efforts to strengthen India-US ties, which had experienced strains in recent months but have since shown signs of recovery. The two leaders last met in Washington in July during the 10th Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and had also held discussions earlier in January this year.
However, the upcoming bilateral meeting will mark their first face-to-face interaction since trade frictions escalated after former President Donald Trump imposed steep tariffs on Indian goods over the purchase of Russian oil. Trump recently expressed confidence that both countries would face “no difficulty” in arriving at a deal.
Meanwhile, there has been confusion and concern among Indians in the US regarding H-1B visas following Trump’s executive order imposing a USD 100,000 fee on visas for skilled tech workers. The White House later clarified that the fee applies only to new applicants and not to current visa holders.
Earlier this month, during the Senate confirmation hearing for Sergio Gor, Trump’s nominee for US Ambassador to India, Marco Rubio described India as “one of the top relationships that the US has in the world today.” Rubio, appearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to introduce Gor, emphasized India’s pivotal role in shaping the global future, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region.
Saying India is at the “core” of the region, Rubio stated, “Sergio Gor is the nominee to India (as US Ambassador), which is one of the top relationships that the US has in the world today, in terms of the future of what the world’s going to look like. I said it earlier when I held the position as a nominee… In the 21st century, the story will be written in the Indo-Pacific. It’s so important that we have changed the name of the combatant command in the Indo-Pacific. India is at the core of that.”
The New York meeting will take place just ahead of formal trade talks scheduled in Washington on Monday, where Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will lead an Indian delegation. According to a release from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, “positive discussions were held” during the September 16 visit of officials from the Office of the United States Trade Representative to India, and both sides agreed to intensify efforts towards finalizing a deal.
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https://www.freepressjournal.in/india/eam-jaishankar-to-meet-us-secretary-of-state-marco-rubio-in-new-york-today-on-unga-sidelines-amid-trade-tensions