The conflicts in West Asia, the situation in the Indo-Pacific region and the holding of a much-delayed Quad Summit are expected to top the agenda for a meeting of the foreign ministers of the four-nation grouping to be held in New Delhi on May 26.
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External affairs minister S. Jaishankar will host his counterparts — Penny Wong of Australia, Toshimitsu Motegi of Japan and Marco Rubio of the US — at Hyderabad House for the meeting. Rubio is set to arrive in India over the weekend for a bilateral visit — his first to India since becoming secretary of state last year — and India set up the Quad foreign ministers’ meeting to coincide with his trip.
The external affairs ministry said the foreign ministers will build on their discussions held in Washington in July 2025 in line with the Quad’s vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific.
“They will exchange views on advancing Quad cooperation across priority areas, review progress on ongoing Quad initiatives, and reflect on recent developments in the Indo-Pacific region and other international issues of mutual concern,” the ministry said in a statement.
The foreign ministers of Australia, Japan and the US are expected to hold bilateral meetings with Jaishankar and also meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the ministry said.
The Quad emerged as a key grouping focused on security and stability in the Indo-Pacific during US President Donald Trump’s first term, when it was elevated to the level of top leadership. However, there has been a lack of focus on the Quad during Trump’s second term, despite Rubio chairing a Quad foreign ministers’ meeting soon after he assumed office early in 2025.
Plans for India to host the Quad Leaders’ Summit have been hit by several setbacks, and the upcoming meeting is expected to discuss the holding of the summit, people familiar with the matter said. India continues to be the chair of the grouping, though the position should have gone to Australia in 2026. There is still no official word on when the summit will be held.
The people said the upcoming meeting is not expected to lead to any major deliverables. The conflicts in West Asia and Ukraine and China’s actions in the Indo-Pacific are expected to figure in the meeting, which will also be an opportunity for the US side to brief the other members on Trump’s recent visit to China, they said. During the last Quad Summit held in the US in 2024, the grouping had unveiled steps to expand maritime security cooperation across the Indo-Pacific.
