New details emerge about Marco Rubio's visit to Uzbekistan

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Samarkand on October 17–22 as part of a trip covering Central Asia and India. In Uzbekistan he will take part in a C5+1 ministerial meeting and lead an American delegation that includes executives from more than 200 companies.

According to the State Department press office, the visit aims to strengthen Washington's strategic cooperation with Central Asian countries and expand trade and investment ties. The C5+1 meeting brings together the United States and five regional states: Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. Bilateral talks with senior representatives of each country are also planned.

Earlier, US special representative for South and Central Asia Sergio Gor had reported a delegation of 100 companies, but the number of business leaders has now doubled. After Samarkand, Rubio will travel to India for meetings in Mumbai and Jamnagar, focusing on strategic partnership, energy and new investment projects.