Marco Rubio India visit Highlights: ‘Economic resilience should be promoted,’ says EAM Jaishankar as Rubio announces critical minerals framework at Quad

"EAM Dr. S. Jaishankar welcomed Foreign Minister Penny Wong of Australia, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi of Japan, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio of the United States for the Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting today," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal wrote on X.
"The meeting provided an opportunity to review the progress on Quad initiatives, advance cooperation across priority areas, and exchange views on developments in the Indo-Pacific and other issues of mutual interest."

https://twitter.com/MEAIndia/status/2059143161763799288

According to the official public schedule (subject to change) detailed by the US State Department, Marco Rubio's high-level engagements on May 26 began with the Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting in New Delhi. Thereafter, he was present to deliver remarks to the press alongside EAM Dr S Jaishankar, and foreign ministers from Australia and Japan.

At 3:30 pm local time, he's expected to meet Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in Yerevan, Armenia.

His official schedule also states that he will participate in an MoU signing with the Armenian Foreign Minister at 4 pm local time.

Dylan Johnson, the Assistant Secretary of State for Global Affairs, confirmed on X that the US Energy Department will host Quad partners later this year for a fuel security forum.

"Each country will leverage their unique energy resources and capabilities to strengthen regional energy resilience," he said of the Quad Initiative on Indo-Pacific Energy Security in the same post.
https://twitter.com/ASDylanJohnson/status/2059157320601321570

Before departing for Armenia from Delhi, Marco Rubio continued hailing the crucial ties between the US and India upon the conclusion of the Quad Foreign Ministers' meeting on Tuesday.

"I have spoken often during my time here over the last few days about the strategic alliance between the United States and India and how important that is for our national interest in the United States. And today is a tangible example of it. We are two countries that have strategic interests in ensuring reliable long-term access to critical minerals and supply chains that are important for our innovation economy," the US State Secretary said at the joint press conference.

"The groundwork was laid for this on the 4th of February when you joined us at the Critical Minerals Forum that we hosted in Washington, D.C. It gained momentum later that month when India signed on to Pax Silica... and now today, because we both have a strategic and shared interest in the fact that vibrant innovation economies such as ours cannot afford to leave the foundational materials of these industries vulnerable to single source monopolies that could deny us these things, not just in a time of conflict, but as a leverage point contrary to our sovereign national interests. So it's a pleasure to be here today and I'm glad we were able to sign this because in addition to being an important document and important agreement, it brings a tangible example of the strategic partnership between the United States and India."

Sharing a photo from the Quad meeting in Delhi, US Envoy Sergio Gor hailed the "highly productive" gathering today.

"Our wide-ranging discussions focused on advancing peace, stability, security, and prosperity across the Indo-Pacific. The Quad remains a vital force for good and will continue to deliver new initiatives addressing the region’s most pressing challenges," he wrote on X.

https://twitter.com/USAmbIndia/status/2059147858960699787

Sharing a social media post after the important Quad Foreign Ministers' meeting, US Assistant Secretary of State for Global Affairs, Dylan Johnson, praised Marco Rubio's participation at the Delhi event.

"Representing a third of the world’s GDP and nearly 2 billion people, the Quad is a powerful collective of nations focused not just on talk — but bold and innovative action," he wrote on X.

https://twitter.com/ASDylanJohnson/status/2059157269942526219

After the "productive" Quad Foreign Ministers' meeting, US State Secretary Marco Rubio said, "We'll announce the Quad Critical Minerals Framework, which will guide each of us to leverage economic policy tools and coordinate investment to strengthen critical mineral supply chains, including in mining and processing and in critical minerals recycling. Finally, on energy and fuel security, we'll be announcing the Quad Initiative on Indo-Pacific Energy Security that will help strengthen regional energy resilience and through this initiative. The Department of Energy from the United States will be hosting Quad partners later this year for a fuel security forum to further expand on this."

"Minister Jaishankar and I want to thank India for being a tremendous host. We've been here for four days and it's been a phenomenal visit. So thank you for everything you've done to extend such a welcome and for allowing us to meet with so many people, and just as importantly, to be hosting this event."

After the conclusion of the Quad Foreign Ministers' meeting, leaders from India, the US, Australia and Japan held a joint press event.

"I am delighted to see the progress of the Quad cooperation, which is the propellant for realising the Free and Open Indo-Pacific. There has been a significant change in the international circumstances," said Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi. At the beginning of the meeting today, I emphasised the importance of our four nations to the Quad in realising Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP). The point of the update of FOIP is that the countries of the Indo-Pacific should strengthen their resilience and capacity to determine their own future. Today's meeting gave us a good opportunity to send an unshaken message that Quad will advance the necessary concrete cooperation for this." "Also today, through frank exchange of views, we were able to align our strategic perceptions on regional developments and agreed to strongly oppose attempts to unilaterally change the status quo by force or coercion."

"We shared deep concern over the export restrictions of critical minerals and others as well. We discussed the North Korean situation, including nuclear and missile problems and cyber activities, and reaffirmed our commitment towards the complete denuclearisation of North Korea. I received support from the other three countries, aiming to bring an immediate solution to the abduction issue." "As the Iranian situation imposes enormous impact on the Indo-Pacific region, energy supply viewpoint included, we confirmed the importance of diplomatic efforts in ensuring free and safe navigation in the Strait of Hormuz as well as stability to be brought to the Middle East."

Addressing a press joint statement, Rubio said, "The stage today represented countries that collectively are about a third of the world's GDP, over almost 2 billion people, and not these aren't just countries that have economic reach, a third of the world's being 2 billion people, they are countries who share strong values, strong vibrant democracies, who also are committed to many of the same concepts with regards to economic development and have many aligned interests in those fields as well." Highlighting key outcomes from the meeting, Rubio announced a new Indo-Pacific maritime initiative aimed at enhancing regional surveillance coordination among Quad members.

"I'm very happy today that as a result of the work that our teams have been doing leading up to this conversation, we have real concrete achievables that we can announce to our respective countries and to the world. On the issue of maritime security, there are two big announcements. The first is the launch of the Indo-Pacific Maritime Surveillance Cooperation Initiative, which is going to leverage each of our country's maritime surveillance capabilities in the Indo-Pacific to enhance information sharing. Related to that is also the expansion of the Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness Initiative, which provides and can provide near-real-time commercial maritime domain awareness data to countries throughout the Indo-Pacific."

In his opening remarks at the Quad Foreign Ministers meeting, Marco Rubio said, "I want to thank Minister Jaishankar and the Indian government for hosting us here, not just in the bilateral visit over the last three days, but for hosting this important gathering here again today...As I began as Secretary of State, and as has been pointed out earlier, my first meeting as Secretary of State was the Quad, within minutes of being sworn in. I thought that demonstrated our commitment to this process. But our goal collectively over the last year has been to turn this from a forum in which we meet and talk about problems to one where we actually do something about them. I think we can report to our people, respectively, that we are beginning to do that pretty aggressively in the areas of cooperation. It is also interesting that the areas that we are working together on have become even more relevant and more important because of recent events around the world. And so today, I think we'll make even further progress on operationalising our relationship in the areas that we can cooperate on. The most interesting thing about the Quad is not simply that we are, it is a gathering of four strategic allies in which we come together to compare notes about areas of common interest."

"Not only is it increasingly becoming a forum by which we begin to take action, but each of these four nations represented here today bring unique capabilities that collectively we can bring to bear on some of most significant problems facing the world, whether it's a humanitarian response, whether it's the security of energy, whether it's the freedom of navigation, whether it's the need to diversify our supplies on not just energy but critical minerals and supply chains. These are areas where all four of our countries, collectively and individually, can bring tremendous assets to bear in terms of solving these problems."

In his initial remarks at the Quad Foreign Ministers meeting, Marco Rubio said,

In his initial remarks at the Quad Foreign Ministers meeting, Marco Rubio said, "I want to thank Minister Jaishankar and the Indian government for hosting us here, not just in the bilateral visit over the last three days, but for hosting this important gathering here again today...As I began as Secretary of State, and as has been pointed out earlier, my first meeting as Secretary of State was the Quad, within minutes of being sworn in. I thought that demonstrated our commitment to this process. But our goal collectively over the last year has been to turn this from a forum in which we meet and talk about problems to one where we actually do something about them. I think we can report to our people, respectively, that we are beginning to do that pretty aggressively in the areas of cooperation. It is also interesting that the areas that we are working together on have become even more relevant and more important because of recent events around the world. And so today, I think we'll make even further progress on operationalising our relationship in the areas that we can cooperate on. The most interesting thing about the Quad is not simply that we are, it is a gathering of four strategic allies in which we come together to compare notes about areas of common interest."t in the bilateral visit over the last three days, but for hosting this important gathering here again today...As I began as Secretary of State, and as has been pointed out earlier, my first meeting as Secretary of State was the Quad, within minutes of being sworn in. I thought that demonstrated our commitment to this process. But our goal collectively over the last year has been to turn this from a forum in which we meet and talk about problems to one where we actually do something about them. I think we can report to our people, respectively, that we are beginning to do that pretty aggressively in the areas of cooperation. It is also interesting that the areas that we are working together on have become even more relevant and more important because of recent events around the world. And so today, I think we'll make even further progress on operationalising our relationship in the areas that we can cooperate on. The most interesting thing about the Quad is not simply that we are, it is a gathering of four strategic allies in which we come together to compare notes about areas of common interest."

"I want to thank Minister Jaishankar and the Indian government for hosting us here, not just in the bilateral visit over the last three days, but for hosting this important gathering here again today...As I began as Secretary of State, and as has been pointed out earlier, my first meeting as Secretary of State was the Quad, within minutes of being sworn in. I thought that demonstrated our commitment to this process. But our goal collectively over the last year has been to turn this from a forum in which we meet and talk about problems to one where we actually do something about them. I think we can report to our people, respectively, that we are beginning to do that pretty aggressively in the areas of cooperation. It is also interesting that the areas that we are working together on have become even more relevant and more important because of recent events around the world. And so today, I think we'll make even further progress on operationalising our relationship in the areas that we can cooperate on. The most interesting thing about the Quad is not simply that we are, it is a gathering of four strategic allies in which we come together to compare notes about areas of common interest."

"Not only is it increasingly becoming a forum by which we begin to take action, but each of these four nations represented here today bring unique capabilities that collectively we can bring to bear on some of most significant problems facing the world, whether it's a humanitarian response, whether it's the security of energy, whether it's the freedom of navigation, whether it's the need to diversify our supplies on not just energy but critical minerals and supply chains. These are areas where all four of our countries, collectively and individually, can bring tremendous assets to bear in terms of solving these problems."

External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar hosts foreign ministers of Australia (Penny Wong) and Japan (Toshimitsu Motegi) alongside the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, during their official visit to Delhi.

https://twitter.com/ANI/status/2059119770226901072

Marco Rubio returned to Delhi on Tuesday morning after visiting the Taj Mahal in Agra and Amber Fort in Jaipur. ANI's videos showed him en routed to attend the Indo-Pacific Quad Foreign Minister meeting, a key highlight of the US State Secretary's maiden India trip.

https://twitter.com/ANI/status/2059116971208462631

Union Minister Piyush Goyal departed for Canada amid Rubio's ongoing India visit to strike conversations over the India-Canada trade deal with PM Mark Carney.

In a social media post, the Canadian leader confirmed early morning, "We’re negotiating a free trade deal with India. This will be a game changer for Canadian workers and businesses — unlocking a massive new market. We’re working fast — I met Minister @PiyushGoyal to review our progress so far and explore the opportunities ahead for both or countries in energy, agri-food, tech and education."
https://twitter.com/MarkJCarney/status/2059066510870474801