JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. — America First means America open for business. Secretary of State Marco Rubio departed Saturday night for Samarkand, Uzbekistan, and Mumbai and Jamnagar, India, on a trip running Oct. 17 to 22. “Just departed for Uzbekistan and India to continue securing the Trump Administration’s economic opportunities for our nation,” Rubio posted.
In Samarkand, Rubio will take part in the C5+1 Ministerial with Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and the Kyrgyz Republic and hold meetings with senior officials from all five. The State Department calls it a historic visit: Rubio is leading a U.S. commercial delegation of more than 200 business leaders, “ushering in a new era of strengthened commercial cooperation for the United States and Central Asia.”
Asked on the tarmac why Central Asia, and why now, Rubio said it was the date that worked to get all five leaders and foreign ministers together. “This is an important relationship,” he said. “You’re always visiting someplace where there’s a crisis or there’s a problem, or you’re going because there’s a conference. But there’s countries you’d like to get to because we want to build our relationships with them.” He pointed to recent stops in Greece and Latin America as part of the same strategy.
Then it is on to India, Rubio’s second official visit this year. The State Department said he will meet senior officials to strengthen the U.S.-India strategic partnership and discuss enhanced energy cooperation, and meet business leaders to promote commercial investment. Jamnagar is home to the world’s largest single-site oil refinery.
New markets, new partners and new deals for American companies: that is how President Trump’s team is putting American workers first around the world. Watch Secretary Rubio in the State Department video above.
