Rubio begins India visit, to hold crucial talks with Jaishankar in Mumbai

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will begin his three-day visit to India on Tuesday to advance bilateral ties in energy, trade and investment, defence, critical technologies, and exchange views on the West Asia crisis.

Rubio's second India visit this year comes amid persistent friction in bilateral ties.

During his earlier trip in May, he held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, besides attending a Quad foreign ministers' meeting.

The US Secretary of State is expected to be accompanied by a large business delegation, and his October 20-22 trip is likely to focus largely on boosting India-US economic engagement.

In their meeting in Mumbai on Tuesday afternoon, Jaishankar and Rubio are expected to deliberate on ways to further strengthen the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership.

Rubio is scheduled to land at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport at 2.15 pm, according to the Ministry of External Affairs ...