Mumbai: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday said the history of the 21st century is being written 'in this region', asserting that the partnership between Washington and New Delhi is shaping what the century will look like. Addressing the 'Freedom 250' reception in Mumbai to mark the 250th anniversary of US independence, Rubio emphasised engaging more with India, the world's most populous nation and a strong geopolitical partner, IANS reported.

'If you think about the story and the history of the 21st century, it's being written in this region and it's being written right now. One day someone will write a book about the history of the 21st century. And there will be a chapter in there about the other regions in the world, but the 21st century will be defined, for better and for worse, by what happens in this region. We know that. We can sense it. We can feel it,' Rubio said. 'I truly believe the relationship between the United States and India is defining, in many ways in a positive way, what the 21st century can look like,' he added.

Rubio said India and the US were 'perfectly aligned' on harnessing technologies such as superintelligence and quantum computing for the benefit of humanity while mitigating their harms, ANI reported. 'The United States and India are aligned, perfectly aligned. We have the same talented people working on it, from engineers to creative thinkers and innovators. We are aligned, and we want to see a world in which superintelligence is used for the betterment of humanity and one in which the harms it could cause are mitigated,' he said.

On geopolitics, Rubio said free trade depends on open sea lanes and, for India and the US in particular, on a free and secure Indo-Pacific — 'one in which no nation can claim dominance or ownership of international shipping lanes. On that issue, we are 100 per cent in perfect alignment.' The reception capped a day of engagements in Mumbai during which Rubio met External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, held trilateral talks with India and the UAE on energy and connectivity, laid a wreath at the 26/11 memorial at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, and told reporters the India-US trade deal was 'very, very close', with only a small number of issues left to resolve.

Sources: IANS; ANI.