SAMARKAND: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio launches into talks on Monday with key Central Asian states before heading to India on a tour to a region with vast natural resources and China as a key competitor.

Rubio arrived in Uzbekistan's Silk Road city of Samarkand late Sunday to prepare for talks with top officials from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and the Uzbek hosts.

The leaders of the five former Soviet republics held talks with US President Donald Trump at the White House in November last year.

At the head of a delegation that includes 200 business executives, Rubio will visit the Samarkand's old city, a historic staging post between China and the West, before starting talks aimed at the modern-day rivalry with China.