How Will Jaishankar's Meeting with Foreign Ministers Impact the Future of the QUAD Alliance?

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met with his counterparts from Australia and Japan in the United States during which they discussed bilateral issues and those pertaining to QUAD.

All four QUAD—India, Australia, Japan and the US–foreign ministers are here to attend US President Donald Trump’s swearing-in on Monday.

"What Was Discussed in Jaishankar's Meeting with the Foreign Ministers of QUAD Nations?"

The Trump administration’s secretary of state-elect Marco Rubio is also likely to meet the other three foreign ministers of QUAD countries.

“Delighted to meet FM @SenatorWong, a Quad colleague, in Washington DC today. As always, enjoyed our discussion on the state of the world,” Jaishankar posted on X after meeting Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong.

“Reviewed the progress in our bilateral cooperation. Also discussed developments pertaining to Quad,” he said in another post after his meeting with the Japanese foreign minister.

The Japanese Foreign Ministry, however, noted that this year marks the 40th anniversary of the signing of the India-Japan agreement on cooperation in the field of science and technology.

“They (the two ministers) concurred to designate the period from April this year to March of the following year as ‘Japan-India Science, Technology and Innovation Exchange Year’ (STIY25) to further advance cooperation by leveraging each other’s strengths in the fields of science, technology, and innovation.

“Minister Jaishankar said he would like to deepen bilateral relations together with Minister Iwaya,” it said.

According to sources, Rubio and President-elect Trump has made it a priority to take the India-US relationship to the next level. Rubio is keen to have his first bilateral with Jaishankar once he is confirmed as Secretary of State.

Jaishankar will also meet National Security Advisor (NSA)-elect Michael Waltz, who is co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans.

Waltz, once he takes over as NSA, would be co-chairing—with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval—the important US-India Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies, a collaborative framework for cooperation in technology. This includes joint efforts in fields like artificial intelligence, quantum computing, semiconductors and advanced telecommunications technologies, such as 6G.