Rubio heads to Uzbekistan for Central Asia talks with 200-strong US business delegation

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has set off for Samarkand, Uzbekistan, for talks with the foreign ministers of the five Central Asian countries in the C5+1 format, the State Department said.

The ministerial meeting with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan takes place on Monday 19 October, Gazeta.uz reported. On the same day, Rubio and Uzbek Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov will hold the first round of a US-Uzbekistan Enhanced Strategic Partnership Dialogue.

The State Department said Rubio would lead a commercial delegation of more than 200 US business leaders, “ushering in a new era of strengthened commercial cooperation for the United States and Central Asia”. He is also due to hold bilateral meetings with senior officials from all five countries.

Speaking to reporters before leaving Joint Base Andrews on Saturday, Rubio said the trip was timed for when all five countries’ leaders and foreign ministers could meet.

From Uzbekistan, Rubio travels to Mumbai and Jamnagar in India until 22 October, his second official visit there this year. The State Department said he would discuss the US-India strategic partnership and “enhanced energy cooperation”.

On Saturday, Rubio described India as an important partner that still gets a substantial amount of energy from Russia. He said the administration’s 60-day pause on new Russia-related sanctions and tariffs would be used to study their effect on the global and US economies.