New Delhi: A day after the swearing-in of Donald Trump for his second presidential term, the new administration’s first major foreign policy engagement brought together the foreign ministers of the Quad countries, who reaffirmed their opposition to coercive unilateral actions in the Indo-Pacific, with an eye on China.
The Quad, comprising India, the United States, Japan, and Australia, lacks an institutionalised military component but is widely perceived by Beijing as an initiative aimed at countering its influence across multiple domains in the region.
All four foreign ministers, including India’s external affairs minister S. Jaishankar, attended the inauguration of Trump’s second term in Washington, D.C., on Monday, January 20. Following Marco Rubio’s confirmation as the new US Secretary of State on January 21, his first official meeting was with his Quad counterparts.
A brief joint statement issued after the meeting announced that preparations for the next Quad leaders’ summit would take place in India. Initially scheduled to host the summit last year, India had exchanged the responsibility with the US, with President Joe Biden hosting the leaders in Delaware.
The Indo-Pacific and China
Reaffirming their commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, the statement read, “Our four nations maintain our conviction that international law, economic opportunity, peace, stability, and security in all domains including the maritime domain underpin the development and prosperity of the peoples of the Indo-Pacific”.
In a veiled reference to China, the Quad ministers added that the group “strongly oppose any unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion”.
Although the new administration includes several China hawks, such as Rubio, one of Trump’s first actions was to pause the ban on the social media app TikTok, which was set to take effect on January 19. The ban had stemmed from a law passed by Congress in April, requiring TikTok – owned by a Beijing-based tech company – to be sold within a year to avoid prohibition.
The four countries had first worked together in the 2004 earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean, which coalesced into a initiative in 2007.
The Quad, established in 2007, originated from the coordinated response of its member countries – India, the United States, Japan, and Australia – to the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.
The Quad was established in 2007 to bring together countries that had worked together in response to the devastating 2004 earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean.
Meetings
The first senior officials meeting was held in 2007, but the momentum dissipated due to leadership changes in Japan and Australia and negative reaction from China. It resumed in 2017 and since then there has been regular meetings, which were upgraded over the years.
While its diplomatic nature and broad focus on regional challenges, such as infrastructure, humanitarian aid, disaster relief, climate change, and maritime security, remain central, the group has steadily evolved in scope and influence. While there is no mention of defence cooperation in their public utterances, the four countries have regularly participated in the Malabar naval exercises.
“We are committed to strengthening regional maritime, economic, and technology security in the face of increasing threats, as well as promoting reliable and resilient supply chains,” said the joint statement on Tuesday.
The Australian foreign minister Penny Wong underlined that the timing of the meeting was critical in signalling the Trump administration’s priorities. “I want to say how important it was for that meeting to take place. It was important for what we discussed and, as important, it was a signal of the priority that the Trump administration places on the Indo-Pacific – and this is a good thing for Australia’s interests,” she told reporters.
India’s external affairs minister S. Jaishankar also emphasised the meeting’s significance, noting it took place “within hours of the inauguration of the Trump administration,” underscoring its importance in the foreign policy agendas of the member states. “The Quad remains a force for global good,” Jaishankar posted on X, formerly Twitter, adding that they had agreed on “thinking bigger, deepening the agenda, and intensifying collaboration.”
Bilateral talks
Following the Quad meeting, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held bilateral discussions with his three counterparts, starting with Jaishankar. While the Indian minister shared limited details, he noted that their discussions covered a wide range of topics and aimed to advance strategic cooperation.
The US State Department’s readout highlighted that Rubio specifically raised the issue of addressing concerns related to irregular migration, a key theme of Trump’s election campaign. This focus was evident in the executive orders Trump signed on his first day in office.
The number of Indian nationals crossing into the US illegally, particularly through its southern border, has been steadily rising. Over the past five years, India has cooperated in repatriation efforts, accepting flights carrying 2,312 nationals in 2020. After a decline during the COVID-19 pandemic, 1,529 Indian nationals were repatriated in 2024, according to US federal records.
