Foreign ministers from Australia, India, Japan and the United States announced new initiatives on May 26 on maritime security, port infrastructure and energy to boost cooperation in the Indo-Pacific to counter concerns about China’s growing influence.
The announcements by the group of nations known as the Quad came after talks in New Delhi between India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio,Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong.
Speaking after the meeting, Rubio announced a new Indo-Pacific maritime surveillance initiative to integrate the four countries’ surveillance capabilities and strengthen real-time information sharing across the region. He said the Quad would work with Fiji to upgrade port infrastructure in the Pacific islands, marking its first joint regional infrastructure project.
The ministers also launched an Indo-Pacific energy security initiative aimed at strengthening regional fuel and energy supply chains, with the U.S. set to host a Quad fuel security forum later this year, Rubio said.
Separately, India and the U.S. signed a deal to strengthen cooperation on critical minerals.
The Quad group is 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.
Its members have repeatedly accused China of flexing its military muscles in the South China Seaand 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 containits economic growth and influence.
