S Jaishankar will hold talks with US secretary of state Marco Rubio on October 20. NEW DELHI: The ministry of external affairs (MEA) on Friday confirmed that external affairs minister S Jaishankar will hold talks with US secretary of state Marco Rubio on October 20, while also hosting UAE deputy prime minister and foreign minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Mumbai on October 19 and 20.

“This has been the practice for the last decade or so that we have hosted foreign secretaries outside Delhi. The Prime Minister hosted the Prime Minister of Spain in Baroda.

He hosted chancellor Merz in Ahmedabad. Prime Minister of Mauritius was hosted by him in Varanasi, and then the external affairs minister hosted the foreign ministers Meeting in Goa.

He hosted the foreign minister of Botswana in Kevadia in Gujarat, and the external affairs minister also hosted the Heart of Asia Conference in Amritsar,” Jaiswal said. “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.

Unless, of course, you want me to,” Rahul posted on X on Friday. His remarks followed criticism from Congress a day earlier, after US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor said American officials expected Jaishankar to meet Rubio in Mumbai.

The party questioned why the Indian government had not publicly announced the minister’s engagements. “Why is the MEA silent on the external affairs minister's tryst with Mr Rubio in Mumbai?”

Ramesh asked, adding that India was learning about the developments from the US ambassador. The US state department announced on Tuesday that Rubio would visit India from October 17 to 22 to strengthen energy cooperation.

His itinerary includes Mumbai and Jamnagar, following a visit to Samark and in Uzbekistan.