US Secretary of State Marco Rubio shared a special moment with his wife, Jeanette Rubio, at the Taj Mahal, Agra, on Monday morning. Rubio's visit to Agra is part of his four-day trip to India.
As is almost customary for every visitor at the Taj Mahal, the Rubios sat on the iconic bench for a picture right in front of one of the seven wonders of the world.
Rubio described his experience at the Taj Mahal as “beautiful”.
The bench has been shared by several foreign dignitaries over the years, including US Vice President JD Vance, who visited the monument most recently.
US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor also posed for a photograph in front of the Taj Mahal.
Last year, Vance visited the Taj Mahal with his wife, Usha Vance and their children Vivek, Mirabel and Ewan.
Over the years, the Taj Mahal has also been visited by several other global leaders in the past, including former US President Donald Trump, who toured the monument during his first term as President, along with First Lady Melania Trump.
During his visit, Trump said, “Taj Mahal inspires awe, a timeless testament to the rich and diverse beauty of Indian culture! Thank you, India.”
Taj Mahal is considered the finest example of Mughal architecture, combining Persian, Indian and Islamic design elements. In 1983, it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site and described as "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage," according to its official website.
What's next for Marco Rubio
Before leaving on Tuesday, Rubio is expected to take part in a meeting of foreign ministers of the Quad — Australia, India, Japan and the United States — four democracies seen as a counterweight to China's presence in the Indian Ocean.
India's requests to the White House to schedule a Trump visit for the Quad summit, have so far gone unanswered, Reuters reported, citing another person familiar with the talks.
China has long been suspicious of the Quad and has chastised India in the past for taking part in it.
But Rubio's trip comes as Trump is shaking up traditional assumptions about US priorities, in that he is seen warming up to China.
Trump paid a state visit to China last week, where he spoke of the US and China being a “G2”. US-China relations have been on tenterhooks since the 2018 ‘trade war’ over fierce manufacturing competition and technological supremacy.
Trump's recent Beijing visit, however, sought more collaboration with China with tech barons Elon Musk, Jensen Huang and Tim Cook accompanying the president on his visit. According to a press release of the White House, US and China agreed on resource-sharing rare earth metals, critical for the manufacture of semiconductor chips.
