Rahul Gandhi posted a terse message on X on Friday, calling out Prime Minister Narendra Modi for what he described as a lack of clarity within the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) about U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s impending Mumbai visit. He wrote: “Mr Rubio has summoned his employee to Mumbai. Modi ji, your officials in the external affairs ministry are confused about what's going on. You might want to explain.”
The U.S. ambassador to India, Sergio Gor, had earlier confirmed that American officials expect External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to meet Rubio in Mumbai. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh slammed the ambassador’s statement as “extraordinary” and demanded the MEA explain why it had been silent on the minister’s engagement with Rubio.
Rubio’s itinerary, announced by the U.S. State Department, covers a five‑day trip from Oct 17‑22, beginning in Samarkand, then heading to Mumbai and Jamnagar. He is slated to meet Jaishankar and to tour a Reliance Industries refinery in Jamnagar, a key venue for the company’s expansion plans.
Reliance’s planned refinery in Texas, touted as the first major U.S. refinery in half a century, sits on the political radar of the Trump administration. The visit follows billionaire Elon Musk’s recent tweet calling Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani “PM Ambani,” a jab that came amid regulatory delays for Musk’s Starlink satellite internet.
In the wake of Gandhi’s post, the MEA has been asked to provide a statement, while Congress members are preparing to table a question on the floor of the Lok Sabha. The upcoming meeting between Jaishankar and Rubio will likely serve as the next turning point in the unfolding diplomatic dialogue.