Marco Rubio meets S Jaishankar in Mumbai, pays tribute to 26/11 victims

Marco Rubio's second visit to India this year comes as both countries seek to sustain high-level engagement despite differences over trade, tariffs and other policy issues. During his earlier visit in May, he held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Jaishankar and attended a Quad foreign ministers' meeting. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets Jaishankar in Mumbai, pays tribute to 26/11 victimsNew Delhi,Oct 20, 2026 17:08 ISTUS Secretary of State Marco Rubio met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Mumbai on Tuesday and paid tribute to the victims of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, as he began a three-day visit to India to advance bilateral ties in trade, investment, defence, energy and critical technologies.Rubio laid a wreath at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel to honour those killed in the November 26, 2008, attacks, including six American citizens. In a post on X, he said the US remembered those who lost their lives, honoured the courage of those who responded to the attacks, and reaffirmed the enduring India-US partnership and their shared commitment to combating terrorism.The US Secretary of State also spoke about the possibility of the United States, Russia and China holding discussions on arms control at the leadership level, saying communication between the world's three most powerful nuclear-armed nations would be a positive development.Responding to a question in Mumbai on whether China was open to discussions on arms control, Rubio said leaders of the three countries should be able to communicate despite their disagreements. "For the three most powerful nuclear-armed nations on Earth, for their leaders to communicate with one another, I think it makes all the sense in the world," he said.Rubio cited diplomacy surrounding the Russia-Ukraine war to underline the importance of dialogue, arguing that negotiations required engagement with the other side. He said US President Donald Trump had expressed openness to a leaders-level conversation involving Washington, Moscow and Beijing on arms control, describing the prospect as something that would be positive for the world.However, Rubio said he did not know whether China was willing to discuss the issue, adding that Beijing had historically maintained it would engage when it had caught up with other countries.- Ends