US Secretary of State Marco Rubio Visits Saint Teresa’s Mother House in Kolkata
He visited the headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity and spoke with its officials.
Kolkata: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio embarked on his maiden tour to India from Saturday with Kolkata as his first destination. This was the second time in the last 14 years when a US Secretary of State toured the city after Hillary Clinton in the Obama administration following a regime change here.
Mr Rubio however had no government-level appointments in his itinerary of around two hours unlike Mrs Clinton who, on May 7 in 2012, met the then chief minister Mamata Banerjee at the Writers' Building for a discussion.
Mr Rubio and his wife Jeanette D. Rubio landed at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport at around 7 am after flying from Sweden. They were greeted by US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor and US Consul General in Kolkata Kathy Giles-Diaz on arrival. Mr Rubio posted in social media, “Landed in India. Looking forward to a great visit!”
Mr Gor stated, “Honored to welcome my friend @SecRubio to India! We have an ambitious agenda ahead, including the Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting, focused on advancing @POTUS' vision for an even stronger U.S.-India partnership. Looking forward to great conversations and making real progress together!”
Mr Rubio later visited Mother House, headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity founded by Mother Teresa, on AJC Bose Road and Nirmala Sishu Bhavan, an orphanage run by the organisation. He wrote on social media, “Mother Teresa left a tremendous legacy of compassion and service. I was honored to visit the Missionaries of Charity today to pay homage to her legacy and to see the living example of the Catholic faith in action.”
Mr Gor said, “Joined @SecRubio in Kolkata for a visit to the Missionaries of Charity. Moments like these remind us the U.S.-India partnership rests not only on strong policies, but also on shared values and the spirit of selfless service that transcends borders.”
Sister Concettina, secretary general of the Missionaries of Charity, said, “It was his initiative to come to Mother House. It was a joy for us to welcome him because he wanted blessings at the Mother's tomb. And we prayed together. That's all. There is nothing else that really happened. No other issues. It was just a kind of family get together.”
Mr Rubio later flew to New Delhi. His visit to the Mother House assumes significance as the Narendra Modi government refused to renew the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) licence of Missionaries of Charity during Christmas five years ago but restored the status within a month after facing widespread criticism.
It also came days after US Representative Chris Smith, Chair of the House Global Human Rights Subcommittee, raised his concerns about the Modi government’s apparent plan to amend the FCRA in the coming months and urged Mr Rubio to flag the issue.
He wrote in an article for Washington Examiner, “During its Monsoon Session from July 21 to August 12, the Indian Parliament is set to consider a bill amending India’s Foreign Contribution Regulation Act. If adopted, the bill would sharply expand the ability of the Indian state to seize the property and assets of groups that receive foreign funding – the vast majority of these being Christian churches and charities, such as hospitals and schools. In effect, the total property of entire churches and dioceses could soon be at risk of being taken over by the Indian state.”
