New Delhi: The QUAD representatives from India, Australia, Japan and the US on May 26, Tuesday clicked a family photo as the Quad Foreign Ministers meeting got underway in New Delhi. At the invitation of External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio are in India to participate in the Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting today.
Responding to media queries at a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio regarding the QUAD grouping, EAM Jaishankar recalled how the forum was commenced in its current form during President Donald Trump’s first administration and that the discussions with Secretary Rubio have featured Quad right from the beginning.
Cooperation on supply chain resilience, connectivity and critical infrastructure
During the Quad Meet, External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar called for deepening collaborations to strengthen supply chain resilience, connectivity chokepoints, manufacturing and addressing resource concentration and bridging the gaps in critical infrastructure. In his opening remarks, EAM Jaishankar underlined the strength of the partnership, noting how the leaders are meeting for the third time in 18 months.
“At the global level we have to address issues like supply chain resilience, connectivity chokepoints, manufacturing and resource concentration and gaps in critical infrastructure”, he said and underlined that each of these avenues offers for deeper collaborations, stronger growth and realising the promise of technologies”, he said.
Highlighting how the four nations are also market economies, the EAM urged for stronger economic resilience, strengthening supply chain and enhancing production capacities. The Quad member countries held discussions on deepening partnerships, securing supply chains and intensifying cooperation amongst themselves.
“Our four nations are also market economies. We believe strongly that economic resilience should be promoted, the supply chains should be strengthened, trusted and secure technologies diffused and production capacities enhanced. Our deliberations touched on the current energy and fertiliser availability,” EAM Jaishankar further added.
QUAD: A coalition of maritime democracies; Indo-Pacific is a key pillar
EAM Jaishankar gave a call to enhance strategic confidence, ensure maritime security, promote economic choices and foster a deeper collaborative ethos via the promotion of trusted and transparent partnerships to address the concerns of the Indo-Pacific. Recalling how over the past several months, the partner countries have advanced collaboration across key core priorities, including maritime security, critical technologies, economic resilience and HADR, Jaishankar hailed encouraging progress on many initiatives.
“As maritime democracies, pluralistic societies and market economies, we share the responsibility towards a free and open Indo-Pacific. The region must remain a driver for global growth and stability”, he said. The ongoing QUAD Foreign Ministers’ Meet builds directly on the framework established during their last gathering in Washington, D.C., on July 1, 2025. Discussions are heavily focused on free and open Indo-Pacific, reaffirming commitment to maritime security, freedom of navigation and a rules-based order.
As Indo-Pacific takes the centre stage in global affairs, External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar highlighted the areas to focus upon for deepening partnerships among the Quad countries. Calling the discussions productive at the Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting, Jaishankar said that much of the discussions and the bilateral exchanges, were devoted to the current state of the world.
“We’ve just concluded a very substantive and productive meeting of the Quad foreign ministers. Much of the discussions and indeed the bilateral exchanges were devoted to the current state of the world. Being QUAD, we naturally focused on issues of particular relevance to the Indo-Pacific. Because we are four maritime democracies located at different ends of the Indo-Pacific, the exchange of perspectives was an exercise of considerable value”, he said.
“A free and open Indo-Pacific has many dimensions and facets. Our meeting today took stock of the progress in many of them while encouraging exploration in others. In the coming days, whether it is economic activity, energy trade or maritime commerce, the Indo-Pacific will become even more important to the world. The responsibilities of the Quad will grow commensurately, and we must prepare for that,” he added.
“The maritime domain has seen a steady expansion of collaboration, including surveillance and domain awareness, logistics network, undersea cables, training, capacity building and HADR activities. We will be continuing to deepen these areas in the times ahead. We spent some time on the question of safe and unimpeded maritime commerce and reaffirmed the significance of scrupulously observing international law”, EAM Jaishankar hailed the importance of maritime cooperation among the QUAD members.
Zero tolerance to terrorism
The External Affairs Minister reiterated the common intention of showing zero tolerance to terrorism. After Quad Foreign Ministers’ meeting, EAM Dr. S. Jaishankar says, “The Quad nations are open societies that foster innovation and creativity in our quest for growth and prosperity. These forces are strengthened when we undertake more exchanges as we intend to do. So, whether it is in business forums, healthcare initiatives or digital activities, each facet of a joint effort makes the region that much better. As democratic nations, we also devoted attention to countering the common threat of terrorism. There must be zero tolerance for terrorism and nations subject to terrorist attacks have the right to defend themselves”, he affirmed.
(With Inputs from ANI)
