US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has declared that India is of "critical" value to his country and welcomed its ongoing interaction in trade, according to the State Department. They "agreed the United States and India will continue working together to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific region, including through the Quad", it said. Significantly, the meeting with Jaishankar was the first official meeting of the day for Rubio, who is making a round of bilaterals with world leaders here for the high-level General Assembly session. Jaishankar posted on X, "Our conversation covered a range of bilateral and international issues of current concern. Later, Jaishankar met with the US ambassador-designate to India, Sergio Gor.