US Secretary of State Rubio visits Amer Palace in Jaipur

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in the Pink City on Monday afternoon for a two-day visit to see historic Amer Palace and other medieval monuments.

Rubio, who is on a four-day state visit to India, landed at the Sanganer International airport here around 2 pm on his special plane from Agra. The visiting dignitary was accompanied by his wife and a high-level delegation.

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After a brief halt at the airport VIP lobby, he drove straight to Amer where Deputy Chief Minister and princess of the erstwhile Jaipur royal state (riyasat) Diya Kumari, accorded a ceremonial welcome to the US dignitaries at the palace courtyard ‘Jaleb Chowk’. She received the VVIP guests in traditional Rajasthani way. Folk music and performances of Kalbelia, Ghoomar, and Kachhi Ghodi folk dances kept the guests spellbound for quite some time.

Later, Rubio and his delegation took a round of the monumental sites and hailed the art, grandeur, architecture and masonry of the grand complex of royal palace. They also showed keen interest in the legacy of the royal house, the chronology of historical events and other aspects of life in the contemporary era.

Special arrangements were made for the foreign guests, as the entire palace was closed for tourists and other visitors between 1 pm and 5 pm. Heavy security arrangements were also made at the Palace along the route of VVIP movement, and at the Ram Bagh Palace Heritage Hotel where the couple is staying tonight. Drone flying was also prohibited in areas around a dozen police stations.

Secretary of State Rubio, along with his wife and delegation, will fly back around 6:30 am on Tuesday.

Prior to the high-profile visit, Vice-President JD Vance undertook a four-day visit to the Pink City in April last year.