Rubio says Quad increasingly focused on global matters as cooperation deepens

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated on Tuesday that the Quad group of nations is increasingly engaging on matters of global significance, as the four foreign ministers met in New Delhi. “Our goal collectively over the last year has been to turn this from a forum in which we meet and talk about problems, to one where we actually do something about it, and I think we can report to our peoples respectively that we are beginning to do that pretty aggressively,” Rubio said. He noted that “the areas that we are working together on have become more relevant and more important because of recent events around the world.”

From dialogue to action

The Quad—comprising the US, Australia, India, and Japan—was formed in 2007. The Indian government said the partnership is committed to “an open, free and inclusive Indo-Pacific that is prosperous and resilient.” Rubio said the US is seeking to “renew” the Quad. Earlier on Tuesday, Rubio unveiled new Quad initiatives on maritime surveillance, port infrastructure, critical minerals, and energy security. The last Quad leaders’ summit was held in the US in 2024. The New Delhi ministerial comes as diplomatic efforts continue to end the US-Israeli war on Iran, which has been locked in a fragile ceasefire since early April.