Congress questions MEA’s silence on proposed Rubio-Jaishankar meeting

The Congress on Thursday (October 15, 2026) asked why the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) was “silent” about a proposed meeting between the U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, in Mumbai.

It was not surprising that the U.S. Ambassador to India, Sergio Gor, had provided more details on Mr. Rubio’s forthcoming visit to Mumbai, Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh said.

“It is also not wholly surprising to hear him say that Mr. Rubio will meet Government of India officials in Mumbai. But what is quite extraordinary is his statement that ‘we expect the Minister Dr. Jaishankar to be joining us there along with other individuals’,” Mr. Ramesh said.

“Since when has the announcement of India’s Minister of External Affairs’s meetings within India been outsourced to somebody other than the official spokesperson of the MEA?” he added. 

The Congress’s dig at the government followed remarks by Mr. Gor during an interactive session at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum here, where he said Mr. Rubio would meet Indian government officials in Mumbai.

“We expect that Minister Dr. S Jaishankar will be there along with other individuals from Delhi, who will make a trip up there to see him in Mumbai,” Mr. Gor.

“India gets to know from the U.S. Ambassador just as it first got to know from Mr. Rubio himself on the evening of May 10, 2025 that Operation Sindoor had been halted. Why is the MEA silent on the External Affairs Minister’s tryst with Mr. Rubio in Mumbai?” Mr. Ramesh said.

Mr. Rubio will first visit Samarkand in Uzbekistan, before travelling to Mumbai, and Jamnagar in Gujarat, from October 17-22, 2026.