Rubio’s Central Asia and India Trip Signals Shift to Transactional Diplomacy
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is traveling to Samarkand, Uzbekistan, for the C5+1 summit, marking a pragmatic shift in U.S. policy toward Central Asia. The trip, which also includes a stop at a major oil refinery in India, prioritizes economic deals and rare-earth minerals over human rights concerns, contrasting with previous Western approaches.