Ahead of the Quad foreign ministers’ meeting, external affairs minister S Jaishankar met his Australian and Japanese counterparts, Penny Wong and Takeshi Iwaya respectively, in Washington.
All three foreign ministers were in the US capital to participate in Trump’s oath-taking. Jaishankar said in a post on X that he discussed progress in bilateral cooperation and also developments pertaining to Quad in his meeting with Iwaya.
According to an Indian readout, Jaishankar and Iwaya utilised the meeting to take stock of salient issues in bilateral cooperation, including in the political, security, economic, technological, and people-to-people domains. “They expressed satisfaction at the level, range, and pace of exchanges between the two countries. They agreed to maintain strategic communication through frequent dialogue, including Strategic Dialogue and the 2+2 Dialogue of Foreign and Defence Ministers. In this context, the EAM extended an invitation to foreign minister Iwaya to visit India,” said Indian govt.
On the 40th anniversary of the signing of the first Memorandum of Understanding between India and Japan on science and technology cooperation in 1985, the ministers also declared 2025-26 as the India-Japan Year of Science, Technology and Innovation, and welcomed efforts to enhance people-to-people exchanges, especially in areas of technology, skills and education.
“The meeting reinforced the enduring friendship between India and Japan based on mutual trust, shared values, and commitment to regional stability,” said the Indian readout.
Jaishankar also announced his meeting with “Quad colleague” Wong in another post on X, saying he enjoyed his discussion with her on the state of the world. Trump’s nominee for secretary of state Marco Rubio is expected to join the visiting ministers for a Quad meeting on Tuesday. The meeting is expected to discuss possible dates for the Quad summit that India will host this year. Shortly after being confirmed as secretary of state, Rubio was also expected to have bilateral meetings with Jaishankar and others.
