Quad meet on Tuesday: West Asia crisis, energy security in focus

Quad foreign ministers will discuss maritime security, critical minerals and global conflicts amid rising concerns over energy flows and Indo-Pacific stability

The Quad foreign ministers’ meeting on Tuesday will discuss cooperation in critical minerals, the conflicts in Ukraine and West Asia, especially the resultant economic challenges, including those to energy security because of the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, and steps to strengthen maritime safety and security in the Indo-Pacific region, which is crucial for trade and energy flows.

 

In an interview with a private television network, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday that Washington wants the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad, to be a forum in which the four members could begin to partner on countering threats to maritime security, and cooperation in critical minerals and supply chains, and that it should not merely become a semi-annual forum. Rubio said the four foreign ministers will try to put in place “specific deliverables” for the Quad Summit, which the leaders of the four member countries could announce when they meet. Rubio said the Quad Summit could “hopefully” take place this year.

 

 

India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will host the Quad foreign ministers’ meeting, with Rubio, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi attending. Wong, Motegi and Jaishankar will also hold separate bilateral meetings. India is hosting the meeting in its capacity as the current chair of the coalition. The meeting comes nearly a year after the Quad foreign ministers met in Washington DC.

 

At the meeting, the Quad’s vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific will be the central focus of the deliberations. At the last Quad Summit held in Wilmington, US, in 2024, leaders of the grouping unveiled major steps to expand maritime security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific. Tuesday’s meeting is also likely to set the broad agenda for the Quad Summit likely to take place in India later this year.

 

On Sunday, after his bilateral talks with Jaishankar, Rubio said the Quad is a forum of alignment between four countries that are not just strategically aligned on a range of key issues but also have the ability, to varying degrees, to influence global events on topics of mutual interest.

 

Rubio said the Trump administration is committed to the Quad. “I want to remind you that the Quad, actually in the current form, started during President Trump’s first administration. And, actually, it picked up then. It has moved on,” he said. On the Quad’s relevance, the US Secretary of State suggested that with increasing India-US trade, including in energy, and with India’s trade growing with other countries in the Americas, “I can see much more growth, much more trade, much more maritime activity out there.” “So, to me, the work on Quad goes on. And I think two days from now, you will see us on the podium talking about the Quad. And I can assure you, we will have a good, strong story to tell,” he said.

 

At the briefing, Jaishankar said the Quad members “are doing a lot with each other because we are maritime powers”, democratic powers that have a certain way of doing things, a certain belief system and certain practices. “We are market economies, we are open societies. We want business to be conducted and life to run on the basis of international law and market practices,” Jaishankar said, adding, “It is very important that Quad cooperation as maritime democracies continues, and that is exactly what you will see.”

 

Australian Foreign Minister Wong said in a press release that the Quad is a vital partnership in these uncertain times, with four nations working together to shape a peaceful, stable and prosperous future for the Indo-Pacific region. She said the four Quad members are “delivering concrete outcomes on shared interests including maritime security, critical minerals supply, infrastructure development and disaster relief.”