Rahul’s Rubio jibe at Modi carries veiled warning: ‘Unless you want me to’
Lok Sabha LoP says PM may want to explain why US envoy announced Jaishankar’s expected Mumbai meeting before MEA did
Rahul Gandhi taunts Modi, saying Rubio has ‘summoned his employee’ S. Jaishankar to Mumbai.
Congress questions why US ambassador Sergio Gor announced Jaishankar’s expected meeting before MEA.
MEA confirms bilateral talks between Rubio and Jaishankar for 20 October.
Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Friday, 16 October taunted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over US secretary of state Marco Rubio’s upcoming meeting with external affairs minister S. Jaishankar in Mumbai, suggesting that the American official was treating the Indian minister as a subordinate.
In a post on X, Gandhi wrote: 'Mr Rubio has summoned his employee to Mumbai. Modi ji, your officials in the External Affairs Ministry are confused about what's going on. You might want to explain. Unless, of course, you want me to.'
The closing line gave the post a sharper edge, suggesting that Gandhi was hinting at information he could make public while challenging Modi to explain the circumstances surrounding the meeting. He did not, however, specify what he might reveal.
Gandhi’s remark was an apparent reference to the circumstances surrounding the announcement of Rubio’s meeting with Jaishankar, which has become a point of contention between the Congress and the government.
The controversy began after US ambassador to India Sergio Gor said on Thursday that Rubio would meet Indian government officials in Mumbai and that Washington expected Jaishankar to join the discussions.
"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," Gor said at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum.
The phrasing prompted questions from the Congress over why the announcement of the Indian external affairs minister’s expected engagement was coming from a US official rather than the ministry of external affairs (MEA).
Congress MP and general-secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh described Gor’s remarks as "quite extraordinary", asking why the announcement of Jaishankar’s meetings in India had effectively been left to someone other than the MEA’s official spokesperson. Fellow Congress Rajya Sabha MP Pawan Khera also questioned why Rubio was skipping New Delhi and Jaishankar was expected to meet him in Mumbai.
The MEA subsequently confirmed that Jaishankar would hold bilateral talks with Rubio in Mumbai on 20 October. The ministry said the discussions would cover energy, trade and investment, defence, and critical and emerging technologies. Jaishankar is also scheduled to host UAE deputy prime minister and foreign minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Mumbai on 19 and 20 October.
Rubio’s India visit is part of a wider trip from 17 to 22 October that also includes Uzbekistan. In India, he is scheduled to visit Mumbai and Jamnagar in Gujarat, where he is expected to meet business leaders and discuss investment and energy cooperation.
Gandhi’s post did not spell out what explanation he expected from Modi. Its central thrust, however, was clear: he questioned the government’s handling of the engagement and used the word 'employee' to suggest an imbalance in the way the meeting was being presented.