Foreign ministers from the Quad alliance—comprising India, Australia, Japan, and the United States—convened in New Delhi to bolster their cooperative efforts in the Indo-Pacific region. This meeting comes at a critical time marked by heightened geopolitical tensions and economic instability related to the ongoing conflict in West Asia.
India’s external affairs minister, S. Jaishankar, hosted his counterparts: Australian foreign minister Penny Wong, Japanese foreign minister Toshimitsu Motegi, and US secretary of state Marco Rubio. This gathering marks the first Quad foreign ministers’ meeting in nearly a year, focusing on reinvigorating the alliance’s mission. Key discussion points included enhancing maritime security, promoting economic resilience, securing critical minerals, developing infrastructure, and improving disaster response strategies.
Before the central meeting, Jaishankar and Motegi engaged in bilateral discussions emphasizing economic security and the West Asia crisis’s impact on energy supplies and trade. Both nations underlined the necessity of maintaining stability and secure maritime pathways in the Indo-Pacific. Motegi highlighted the significant structural changes the world is experiencing due to shifting global power dynamics and increasing conflicts, noting the joint responsibility of India and Japan in shaping the future international order.
Australia underscored the Quad’s role as an essential partnership for ensuring peace, stability, and prosperity across the Indo-Pacific. Given the increasingly unstable global context, Canberra stressed the heightened importance of Quad cooperation. Among the key topics anticipated for discussion was the long-postponed Quad Leaders’ Summit, which India planned to host last year but was delayed after US President Donald Trump did not confirm his participation.
The last Quad Leaders’ Summit took place in the United States in 2024, with the previous foreign ministers’ meeting held in Washington in July 2025. Recently, Jaishankar emphasized the commitment of the Quad nations, which he described as “maritime democracies,” to uphold international law, ensure secure trade routes, and maintain a rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific region.