U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is beginning a weeklong tour that will take him to key countries in the Middle East and South Asia, the State Department has announced.

Tillerson will arrive in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on October 20 to participate in a meeting of the Iraqi-Saudi coordination council and to discuss the crisis in Yemen with Saudi leaders.

Tillerson will make a stop in Doha for talks with Qatari officials before heading for his first trip as secretary to South Asia, where he will visit Pakistan and India for talks in both countries on bilateral relations.

The secretary will make a stopover in Geneva on his return trip where he will hold meetings at the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Organization for Migration, and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Tillerson will return to Washington on October 27, the State Department statement said.