Sawt Falasteen - Rubio to revive 'Quad' alliance in India, but staying power unclear

The meeting in New Delhi comes 10 days after US President Donald Trump paid a friendly state visit to China and spoke glowingly of the two powers working together as a "G2" -- a concept that the US allies who are concerned about Beijing's rise fear could shut them out.

Rubio took the symbolic step of meeting Quad foreign ministers in Washington within hours of being sworn in last year, and the four gathered again in Washington in July 2025.

But a Quad summit expected last year did not happen, with Trump not committing to travel to India for it, despite his predecessor Joe Biden's vow that the four-way leaders' summits would be "here to stay".

Rubio, who is paying his first visit to India, said he hoped to lay the groundwork for a Quad summit involving Trump.

"We want to make sure we do the work necessary and position it so, when they do meet, they'll have very specific deliverables and things that actually they can announce," Rubio told India Today in an interview.

He said that the Quad could cooperate on securing the supply of critical minerals, a rare area in which the Trump administration has turned to the more traditional diplomacy of building networks with allies, alarmed at the dominance of China in resources critical to the high-end technology sector.

- Disagreement on Iran -

Rubio said that the Quad could also collaborate further on maritime security. Japan in particular has concerns about China's assertiveness in staking claims at sea.

Japan and India are also heavily affected by the spike in oil prices after Iran exerted control over the strategic Strait of Hormuz in response to a US-Israeli war launched on February 28.

No US ally other than Israel has robustly supported the decision to attack Iran, enraging Trump, who has questioned the reliability of US partners, whom he had not consulted beforehand.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is one of the few world leaders who has voiced some understanding for the war, citing concerns about Iran's disputed nuclear programme, but he has not assisted the war effort and Trump said he was "not happy with Australia".

Japan and India both historically have maintained cordial relations with Iran, although they grudgingly complied with US sanctions aimed at stopping all other countries from buying Iranian oil.

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, holding a bilateral meeting with India on Monday before the full Quad, said it was important to address an "increasingly severe" global security situation.

"The world is faced with the most significant structural change in the post-World War II era, driven by a shift in the balance of power and the intensification of conflict and confrontation," Motegi told Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

Meeting with Rubio on Sunday, Jaishankar played down concerns about US interest in the Quad, noting that Trump had backed it strongly in his first term.

Japan's late prime minister Shinzo Abe had conceived of the Quad, seeing the four democracies as like-minded in the face of China.

Biden, who prioritised working with US allies, envisioned a broad, structured role for the Quad including cooperation on disaster relief, supply chains and public health.

Q.Najjar--SF-PST