The Quad Foreign Ministers meeting will reportedly be hosted by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
New Delhi: Preparations are underway for a meeting of the Quad Foreign Ministers in the US on July 1, and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is likely to travel to Washington DC, The Indian Express reported.
Apart from recent developments in the Indo-Pacific region, significant attention is expected on developments in West Asia and the Pahalgam terror attack, as India would push for a stronger anti-terror formulation by the Quad.
While a final confirmation is awaited, Jaishankar will advocate for stronger anti-terror measures following the Pahalgam attack. The meeting will lay the groundwork for the Quad summit India plans to host later this year. Jaishankar will also meet with American officials during the visit.
The meeting of the Quad Foreign Ministers will be hosted by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Although the four Quad Foreign Ministers had met in Washington DC at the first multilateral meeting that Rubio held on January 21 — after the inauguration a day earlier of US President Donald Trump — the grouping hasn’t been able to focus on the Indo-Pacific agenda over the last five months.
This will also be Jaishankar’s first meeting with Rubio and top officials in the US administration, after Modi spoke to Trump over the phone on June 18, weeks after the US President claimed credit for brokering a “ceasefire” between India and Pakistan.
Jaishankar's visit comes days before the July 9 tariff deadline. It is expected that the US and India will have concluded a bilateral trade agreement before the deadline for suspension of reciprocal tariffs expires.
