Quad launches $20 bn critical minerals initiative to cut China dependence

The Quad foreign ministers launched initiatives on critical minerals, energy security and maritime surveillance amid concerns over the grouping's future under Donald Trump

The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) partners on Tuesday launched the Critical Minerals Initiative to mobilise up to $20 billion in government and private sector support to strengthen supply chains across mining, processing and recycling. The Quad foreign ministers voiced “grave concerns” over “economic coercion”, in a reference to China’s export-control regime in the sector.

 

The meeting, chaired by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and attended by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi, took place amid concerns about Quad’s future, with the Donald Trump administration seeking to rebalance US-China ties. The ministers, however, sent a message that the grouping remains vibrant and that the US continues to be invested in it.

 

 

In a joint statement issued after the meeting, the Quad foreign ministers stressed navigational freedom through the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea, condemned attacks on commercial shipping vessels, and opposed the imposition of tolls. They also expressed serious concern over the situation in the East China Sea and the South China Sea, including the militarisation of disputes.

 

As evidence that the Quad is delivering on its key objectives, that it is “here to stay and going strong”, Rubio, along with foreign ministers, launched new initiatives to strengthen the cooperation in sectors spanning energy security and critical minerals.

 

With an eye on China’s assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region, they also announced plans to augment maritime surveillance technology in the region, ensure the safety of undersea cables, and advance port infrastructure for key Indo-Pacific corridors, starting with the construction of a port in Fiji.

 

On the margins of the Quad meeting, India and the US firmed up a key framework for cooperation to ensure steady supplies of critical minerals. Rubio termed the framework “a tangible example” of the US-India strategic partnership. The framework adds to Washington’s Pax Silica initiative, which India joined in February. The US is mobilising $30 billion to secure critical mineral supply chains.

 

The Quad’s Initiative on Indo-Pacific Energy Security comes amid disruptions in energy and fertiliser supplies. Under the initiative, the Quad partners committed to working together to ensure open and stable energy markets, as well as resilient and diversified supply chains.

 

The initiative will leverage similar programmes launched by member countries, including Japan’s $2 billion Southeast Asia Investment Financing Facility, and will also aim to strengthen strategic petroleum systems in the region. To achieve this, the Quad will convene a Quad Fuel Security Forum to coordinate high-level discussions and facilitate cooperation.

 

Explaining the announcements on maritime security in the Indo-Pacific, Rubio said 60 per cent of global maritime trade passes through the region.

 

The Quad foreign ministers addressed a joint media briefing after the meeting at Hyderabad House in New Delhi. Indian officials said the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), as the host, respected the visiting ministers’ preference that they will deliver only prepared statements and not take questions from the media.

 

However, uncertainty remained over whether India, the current chair of the grouping, would get to host the Quad Summit this year. To questions about whether the next Quad Summit could be held in a country other than India, or alongside another multilateral summit, Indian officials said the foreign ministers would decide the venue and timing.

 

Australia is slated to take over the Quad chairmanship from India. India had originally been scheduled to host the Quad Summit in 2024, but it was instead held in September that year in Delaware, US, as Joe Biden was in the final months of his presidency. The summit could not be held in India in 2025 either.

 

In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a media briefing that cooperation among countries should contribute to regional peace, stability and prosperity, and should not target any third party. “We oppose forming exclusive groupings or engaging in bloc confrontation,” the spokesperson said.

 

At a media briefing in New Delhi, K Nagaraj Naidu, additional secretary in the MEA, said the Quad’s “existence is not because we need to address a particular geography and its concerns”. He said India’s focus within the Quad has been on delivering practical projects, including assistance during the Covid pandemic, installation of solar projects, and scholarships for the region. He added that the Quad was expanding the scope of its developmental agenda.

 

The Indian official said the US is “very engaged” in the Quad, and its importance to Washington should be seen through the prism of US national security and defence strategies. He said the Quad foreign ministers had met three times in the past 18 months. “The Quad is here to stay, it is going strong, and its work has increased with new layers being added,” Naidu said, adding that the grouping’s lack of a formal secretariat makes it a nimble and flexible organisation.

 

To a question on whether the US strikes on Iran were discussed during Tuesday’s meeting in the context of Quad foreign ministers stressing upon adhering to international rule of law, officials said a member country’s “interpretation of rule of law” did not come up.