The top diplomats of Japan, the United States, Australia and India are planning to meet in late May in New Delhi, with efforts to reduce reliance on China for critical minerals likely to be on the agenda, diplomatic sources said.
It would be the first foreign ministers’ meeting of the so-called Quad grouping since July last year.
The four countries had planned to convene a meeting of their leaders in India last fall, but it was postponed due to a deterioration in relations between Washington and New Delhi as well as U.S. President Donald Trump’s lack of interest in tackling global and regional challenges multilaterally.
It remains unclear whether the planned ministerial meeting will lead to a Quad summit later this year.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is scheduled to attend the meeting, the sources said. U.S. Ambassador to India Sergio Gor wrote on social media Wednesday, “Looking forward to welcoming my good friend Secretary Rubio to India…See you soon.”
At their previous meeting, the Quad’s top diplomats agreed to boost cooperation on critical minerals, as China is the dominant player in the global supply of rare earth elements vital to modern technologies.
With China in mind, they said in a joint statement, “Reliance on any one country for processing and refining critical minerals and derivative goods production exposes our industries to economic coercion, price manipulation and supply chain disruptions, which further harms our economic and national security.”
© KYODO
