AGRA, May 25: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited the Taj Mahal with his wife Jeanette Rubio on a searingly hot Monday morning, describing the famed Mughal era monument as “one of the love treasures of the world”.
Rubio, who is on a four-day visit to India, arrived at the Kheria airport in Agra in a special aircraft around 10 am and travelled by car to a hotel near the eastern gate of the Taj Mahal before proceeding to the monument in a golf cart amid heavy security arrangements, local officials said.
“Thank You For Allowing Us To Visit One Of The Love Treasures Of The World,” Rubio wrote in the visitors’ book.
The US secretary of state, who was accompanied by US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor, spent around an hour at the 17th-century marble mausoleum. The ambassador also joined the Rubios for a photograph at the UNESCO World Heritage site.
Security was tightened around the Taj Mahal during the high-profile visit, and tourists already present inside the monument complex were temporarily asked to move out by security personnel, officials said.
Rubio will also travel to Jaipur before returning to New Delhi on Tuesday morning to attend a meeting of Quad foreign ministers.
The visit to the Taj Mahal comes amid scorching weather conditions in Agra, which was among the hottest places in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
According to the IMD’s weather chart issued on Monday morning, Agra recorded a maximum temperature of 45.4 degrees Celsius on Sunday, while the minimum temperature settled at 32.8 degrees Celsius. (Agencies)
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