US wants to ‘compete’ in Central Asia, ambassador says ahead of Rubio visit

South China Morning Post Thursday 15 October 2026, 11:04 UTC By Laura Zhou 1 min read

Key Points

The US wants to “compete” in resource-rich Central Asia, a senior American official has said as Secretary of State Marco Rubio prepares to head to a region of growing Chinese influence. In New Delhi on Thursday, US ambassador to India Sergio Gor said this weekend’s C5+1 ministerial meeting between the five Central Asian countries and the US in Uzbekistan would be an opportunity to “showcase American ingenuity, American technology”. Rubio would be joined by representatives from more than 200...

US (LOCATION) Central Asia (LOCATION) Rubio (PERSON) American (ORG) State (ORG) Marco Rubio (PERSON) Chinese (ORG) New Delhi (LOCATION) India (LOCATION) Sergio Gor (PERSON) Central Asian (ORG) Uzbekistan (LOCATION)

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US wants to ‘compete’ in Central Asia, ambassador says ahead of Rubio visit

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