L-R: Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, and Japanese Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi, during the foreign ministers’ visit to Rubio in the State Department on Tuesday in Washington DC.
By Greg Kerry
Marco Rubio, U.S. Secretary of State, has said that the country’s foreign policy under the administration of President Donald Trump is centred on U.S. national interests.
Rubio stated this while addressing hundreds who gathered at the State Department to receive him on his first day in office in Washington on Tuesday.
The Secretary of State, who arrived to a warm applause, was earlier sworn in as the United States’ top diplomat by the Vice President on Monday.
“Anything that makes us stronger, or safer or more prosperous,” will be our mission.
“The U.S. will strive to avoid conflicts, while never compromising national security or sacrificing core values,” Rubio said.
Rubio also met with foreign ministers from the Indo-Pacific Quad on Tuesday afternoon, and emphasized the same foreign policy rhetoric to them.
The visiting foreign ministers included Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Japanese Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi.
The foreign ministers had come to the U.S. to attend President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday.