Photo: U.S. Department of State / Wikimedia Commons, public domain
The foreign ministers of India, the United States, Japan and Australia on Saturday voiced “grave concerns” about economic coercion and arbitrary export restrictions, and set out plans for more than $85 million in support for trusted artificial intelligence across the Indo-Pacific. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Japan’s Toshimitsu Motegi and Australia’s Penny Wong met for about 40 minutes in Atlanta, Georgia, on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting, according to Japan’s foreign ministry.
A pointed message on trade, without naming China
The joint press release issued after the talks also criticised “non-market policies and practices that result in overcapacity”, which the ministers said were disrupting supply chains in critical industries. No country was named, but complaints about overproduction and curbs on exports are routinely aimed at China, which has tightened controls on rare earths and rejects accusations that it floods world markets.
On security at sea, the four called it an “absolute necessity” to protect navigational rights in the Strait of Hormuz, the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and stressed safe passage for crews and ships without the imposition of tolls. The language comes as tanker traffic through the Gulf faces mine attacks and rising tension with Iran.
What the ministers announced
- More than $85 million in technical and financial help to widen access to trusted AI in the region, though the statement did not say how much each country would give.
- A US commitment of $10 million for facilities in India and Southeast Asian countries that recover critical minerals from electronic waste and scrap.
- A joint effort to spot weak points in semiconductor and AI hardware supply chains before they cause disruption.
- A first Quad Business Leaders’ Forum, and a meeting of the four countries’ export credit agencies in Tokyo on November 18.
- A pledge to dismantle cyber-scam centres run by criminal groups that traffic people, operations the ministers said steal tens of billions of dollars a year from their citizens.
Australia, Japan and the US will also send observers to India’s annual joint humanitarian assistance and disaster relief exercise in November. The ministers recognised India’s role as first responder after Nepal’s August 26 flash floods.
India’s priorities
Jaishankar said he had stressed supply-chain resilience, technology, critical minerals and energy security, countering non-market practices, and carrying forward agreements on counter-terrorism and maritime security. He also called for “a more contemporary QUAD agenda with a practical approach”. Motegi, according to Tokyo, raised the East China and South China Seas, North Korea’s denuclearisation and the abductions issue.
The Quad has evolved from a platform where we simply meet and talk about problems into one where we identify areas for cooperation and are actually able to take action.
Marco Rubio, US Secretary of State
What happens next
This was the third Quad foreign ministers’ meeting this year, after talks in New Delhi in May and Manila in July. Rubio told reporters that a Quad leaders’ meeting would be held in Manila next month; reports say moves are under way for President Donald Trump to host it on the sidelines of the ASEAN and East Asia summits in mid-November. The ministers’ statement said they looked forward to that leaders’ summit and to another ministerial meeting.
