Tashkent, October 18: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is due in Samarkand on October 19 to meet the foreign ministers of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan in the C5+1 format, the spokesperson for Uzbekistan’s foreign minister said, according to Gazeta.uz. He will lead a commercial delegation of more than 200 American business leaders, which the US State Department said would be “ushering in a new era of strengthened commercial cooperation for the United States and Central Asia”.
The October 17–22 trip also takes Rubio to Mumbai and Jamnagar, his second official visit to India this year, the State Department said. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will hold talks with him in Mumbai on October 20, as we reported.
Key highlights
- C5+1 foreign ministers’ meeting in Samarkand on October 19, plus bilateral meetings with senior officials from all five Central Asian countries.
- Same day: the first round of the US–Uzbekistan Enhanced Strategic Partnership Dialogue, with Uzbek Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov.
- More than 200 US business leaders travel with Rubio.
- The agenda centres on critical minerals and rare earths, energy security and regional connectivity.
- In India, Rubio will discuss the strategic partnership and expanding energy cooperation, and meet business leaders.
The programme
| Date | Place | What is planned |
|---|---|---|
| October 17–22 | Uzbekistan and India | Overall trip, according to the US State Department |
| October 19 | Samarkand | C5+1 foreign ministers’ meeting; bilateral meetings with all five C5 countries; first US–Uzbekistan Enhanced Strategic Partnership Dialogue; business meetings |
| October 20 | Mumbai | Talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar (MEA) |
| During the India leg | Mumbai and Jamnagar | Meetings on the strategic partnership, regional issues and energy cooperation; talks with business leaders |
What Washington wants from Central Asia
The State Department said the C5+1 ministerial will “highlight how strategic cooperation through this diplomatic platform promotes a more peaceful and prosperous future” for the United States and Central Asia. Sergio Gor, the US special envoy for South and Central Asia, said when the visit was first announced that the talks would focus on “deepening regional economic connectivity, enhancing energy security”, The Times of Central Asia reported. Analysts quoted by Al Jazeera say the economic interest is centred on rare earths and other critical minerals, which the region has in abundance but which need technology and investment to develop.
Uzbekistan is already engaged. On February 4, Foreign Minister Saidov and US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau signed a memorandum on the mining and processing of critical minerals and rare earths in Washington. An open question is how much processing American investors are willing to finance inside Uzbekistan, which wants more value-added production at home.
What the last C5+1 delivered
The October talks build on the summit President Donald Trump hosted for the five Central Asian presidents in Washington on November 6, 2025, where the US Commerce Department reported “more than $25 billion in announced commercial deals”. Some of them:
| Country | Deal announced in November 2025 |
|---|---|
| Kazakhstan | Air Astana: up to 15 Boeing 787-9s (five firm orders, five options, five purchase rights) |
| Kazakhstan | Cove Capital and Tau-Ken Samruk: tungsten deposits, about $1.1 billion projected investment |
| Kazakhstan | Memorandum on about $2 billion of advanced AI-chip procurement |
| Uzbekistan | Uzbekistan Airways: eight more 787-9s, for 22 Dreamliners in total |
| Tajikistan | Somon Air: plans for up to four Dreamliners and ten 737 MAX jets |
Our calculation: the two Kazakh mining and chip deals alone, about $1.1 billion and $2 billion, add up to $3.1 billion, roughly 12% of the $25 billion headline. Several of the other headline deals were aircraft orders. The test in Samarkand is whether signed mining and processing projects follow, not just more memorandums.
“Just business”
Analysts quoted by Al Jazeera describe a transactional US approach with little emphasis on democracy or human rights. “Under Trump, the American policy in Central Asia is all about ‘just business and nothing more’,” said Galiya Ibragimova, a regional expert. Alisher Ilkhamov of the London-based Central Asia Due Diligence think tank saw a different motive: “The interest is mostly geopolitical and military-strategic.” Uzbekistan, a country of 37 million people, has courted Washington actively: President Shavkat Mirziyoyev pledged about a year ago to invest up to $100 billion in the US economy and to buy Boeing aircraft and US cotton, Al Jazeera reported.
The India angle
India is also courting the region. Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Tashkent in August, when India and Uzbekistan raised ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and set a target of $5 billion in trade by 2030; see our report on Modi’s Tashkent visit. Rubio’s stop in Jamnagar, home to the giant refining complex on India’s west coast, after talks on Central Asian energy and minerals, points to energy as a thread running through the whole trip.
What to watch
- Any joint statement from the C5+1 meeting and the first Enhanced Strategic Partnership Dialogue with Uzbekistan.
- Signed critical-minerals projects, with financing and processing plans, as opposed to new memorandums.
- The readout of the Jaishankar–Rubio talks in Mumbai on October 20, and what Rubio does in Jamnagar.
What it means
Central Asia is using its minerals and location to draw in the United States alongside China and Russia, and Washington is answering with businesspeople rather than speeches. For India, which shares the goal of reaching Central Asia but lacks a land route, the same week shows both the competition for the region and the energy ties that bind New Delhi and Washington.
Sources
- US State Department: Secretary Rubio’s travel to Samarkand, Mumbai and Jamnagar
- Gazeta.uz: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to visit Samarkand on 19 October
- Kun.uz: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to visit Uzbekistan this week
- Al Jazeera: Rubio’s Uzbekistan trip underlines Central Asia’s hunt for diverse partners
- The Times of Central Asia: Rubio to lead major U.S. business delegation to Uzbekistan for C5+1 talks
The International Desk covers world and Asian affairs, diplomacy and conflict, with a focus on what they mean for India. Stories are checked against at least two credible sources before publication.
