The foreign ministers of Australia, India, Japan and the United States, also known as the Quad, are meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday on how to strengthen their cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and common concerns about China’s growing influence in the region.
The meeting brings together India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong. India’s foreign ministry said the ministers would discuss recent developments in the Indo-Pacific and ways to advance cooperation among their nations.
The leaders are also expected to discuss the Iran war and halted energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.
The four nations make up the Quad group, a key strategic partnership for cooperation on maritime security, supply chains and regional strategy as China expands its military and economic influence in the Indo-Pacific.
The Quad has repeatedly accused China of flexing its military muscles in the South China Sea and aggressively pushing its maritime territorial claims. Beijing maintains that its military is purely defensive to protect what it says are China’s sovereign rights and calls the Quad an attempt to contain its economic growth and influence.
The meeting comes days after U.S. President Donald Trump visited China, a trip closely watched in New Delhi for signs of any shift in Washington’s approach toward Beijing.
Rubio, who arrived in India on Saturday, said that Washington wants the Quad to move beyond being a dialogue platform and take more concrete action on issues including maritime security and critical minerals. He also said officials were working toward a summit of the four leaders later this year, although no date has been announced.
The four countries had hoped to hold a leaders’ summit in India last year, but the plan was delayed because of strains in U.S.-India relations, including disagreements over tariffs..