EAM Jaishankar to host US, UAE counterparts in Mumbai

India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is set to host high-level talks in Mumbai next week with the UAE’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister and the US Secretary of State, a move the government says continues a long practice of taking diplomacy beyond Delhi.
On 19–20 October, Jaishankar will receive UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan for an official visit. The following day, he is scheduled to hold talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and attend celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of American independence as guest of honour.
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the UAE visit would review the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, covering energy, trade and investment, fintech, defence and connectivity, along with the situation in West Asia. "There will naturally be a detailed exchange of views on the situation in West Asia as also on global and multilateral issues", he said.
On the US side, he noted that Rubio’s visit would allow both sides to discuss energy, trade, defence, critical technologies and regional developments under the Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership.
The upcoming meeting between India and the American side in Mumbai has become politically charged. India's opposition leader Rahul Gandhi questioned the choice of Mumbai for the meeting. The government has pointed to a decade-long pattern of hosting foreign dignitaries outside the capital. The Prime Minister has received the Spanish prime minister in Vadodara, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Ahmedabad and the Mauritian prime minister in Varanasi. EAM Jaishankar himself has previously hosted the SCO foreign ministers’ meeting in Goa, etc.
Fellow Congress leader Jairam Ramesh questioned why the announcement of the Indian minister’s participation appeared to come from the American side rather than the MEA itself. US Ambassador Sergio Gor had given details about the visit to a media outlet. Important to know, India's foreign minister gives details of the visit of any visiting foreign minister closer to the date.
The episode echoes an earlier controversy. On 9 March 2013, then External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid hosted a private working lunch for visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf at Jaipur’s Rambagh Palace. Ashraf was en route to the Ajmer Sharif shrine. The visit drew protests, with the then opposition questioning the government’s decision to extend hospitality to the Pakistani side. The visit was boycotted by the spiritual head of the Ajmer Shrine, over the killing and mutilation of 2 Indian soldiers earlier that year near Jammu.