Quad Meeting In New Delhi Today As US-Iran Circle Around Peace Deal - What's On Agenda?

(MENAFN- Live Mint) The external minsters of Australia, India, Japan and the United States will be meeting on Tuesday, May 26, to regain momentum in the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, also known as QUAD as the United States and Iran circle around a peace deal to end the conflict in West Asia.

According to some critics, the working of the strategic partnership group had slowed under President Donald Trump. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will preside over the meeting.

The US, Japan, India and Australia were supposed to meet last year, but it did not happen due to the tensions between America and India over tariffs.

This would be the third meeting between the foreign ministers of QUAD since September 2024. Australia's Penny Wong, Indian External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar, Japan's Toshimitsu Motegi and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will be meeting today.

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But the countries share concerns about China's growing power and Rubio - who arrived in India on Saturday for a four-day visit aimed at shoring up relations with New Delhi - has stressed the importance of maintaining a "free and open Indo-Pacific."

What's on agenda?

Marco Rubio said,“We don't just want the QUAD to be a semi-annual meeting of like-minded countries. We want it to actually be a forum on which we continue to partner on things.”

The US secretary of state also said that QUAD would like to take“concrete actions” on maritime security and critical minerals, ever since China stopped the shipment of some materials used in aerospace, defence and chip-making industries to Japan. The leaders are also likely to meet later this year to discuss issues.

"I don't have a date on that yet, but hopefully this year we'll find a time for all four leaders to get together," Rubio said.

What MEA said

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that the QUAD leaders would build on discussions that happened in Washington in July 2025.

The MEA said,“In keeping with the Quad vision for a Free and Open Indo-Pacific, the ministers will build on discussions held in Washington DC on July 1, 2025.”

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“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,” it said.

In the last Quad summit held in Wilmington in the US in 2024, top leaders of the grouping unveiled major steps to expand maritime security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.

The Quad meeting comes as the U.S. and Iran have circled around a possible deal to end their three-month conflict and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

The closure by Tehran of the crucial waterway has upended energy markets and disrupted the global economy, an issue that is likely to feature prominently in Quad discussions.

(With agency inputs)

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