NEW DELHI: Quad foreign ministers may meet in Washington shortly after the swearing-in of president-elect Donald Trump. External affairs minister S Jaishankar will represent India at the inauguration.
Trump has appointed Republican senator and pro-India leader Marco Rubio as secretary of state. Japanese foreign minister Takeshi Iwaya and his Australian counterpart Penny Wong too have confirmed participation in Trump’s inauguration, making Quad meeting a real possibility on the margins of the mega event.
Japan govt has been working with the US, Australia and India to hold a Quad foreign ministers meeting next week after the swearing-in ceremony of Trump, Japan-based NHK World reported.
“Sources say that Japanese officials have been arranging a foreign ministerial meeting of the Quad framework to coincide with Iwaya’s US visit. The Japan govt hopes to confirm with the new US administration the importance of maintaining and strengthening cooperation among the four countries to realise a free and open Indo-Pacific,” said the report.
If it happens, the Quad meeting will be the first significant multilateral meeting that Trump 2.0 will be a part of and will reaffirm the incoming administration’s commitment to working with like-minded partners to ensure a free, open and prosperous Indo-Pacific.
Jaishankar has expressed confidence that Trump will continue to support Quad the way he did during his previous term as the US president when he upgraded Quad to the ministerial level.