Marco Rubio’s India visit has brought Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity back into focus.The Kolkata headquarters of the charity was Rubio’s first stop after arriving in India for bilateral talks and the May 26 Quadrilateral Security Dialogue foreign ministers’ meeting.The visit renewed attention on the NGO, whose Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) licence was previously revoked before being restored in 2022.The licence was reinstated in July 2022, weeks after its renewal had been halted over unspecified adverse inputs. The restoration allowed the religious order to resume receiving foreign contributions and continue operations across its shelter homes and orphanages in India.Another reason Rubio visited Kolkata before travelling to Delhi was the city’s historic role in American diplomacy. The US diplomatic mission in Kolkata is among the oldest American consulates in the world and the oldest in India.Kolkata occupies a significant place in the history of American diplomacy as the site of one of the earliest US consulates overseas and the first established in India. On November 19, 1792, President George Washington nominated Benjamin Joy of Newburyport as the first American Consul to Kolkata, acting on the advice of Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson. Although Joy arrived only in April 1794 and was never formally recognized by the British East India Company, his appointment marked the beginning of formal American engagement with Kolkata as well as India more broadly.