India is exploring the possibility of holding a meeting of Quad foreign ministers in New Delhi linked to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit next month to stimulate the group’s activities and plan a much-delayed summit, people familiar with the matter said.
Rubio is expected to arrive in New Delhi late next month, and the Indian side has approached the other two Quad members – Australia and Japan – about holding a Quad foreign ministers’ meeting around May 26, the people familiar with these talks said on condition of anonymity.
After a meeting between Rubio and Secretary of State Vikram Misri in Washington, US Ambassador Sergio Gore said in a social media post on Friday that the Secretary of State “looks forward to visiting India next month.” He did not give further details.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar spoke to his Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi on Friday and discussed developments in West Asia as part of ongoing communications between the two sides.
The sources said that while the Japanese side indicated that Foreign Minister Motegi would be available to attend the Quad meeting, there was no strong indication from the Australian side about his participation. The people acknowledged that the conflict in West Asia had affected planning for the meeting, but said that the two-week truce between Iran and the United States had boosted the chances of it taking place. The sources said that the Indian and Japanese sides are keen to move forward with the process of the Quad meetings to signal the group’s continued importance, especially in the Indo-Pacific region amid China’s assertive stance. “It’s not so much about the results as it is about holding a foreign ministers meeting that will serve as a signal,” one person said. While several Quad working groups have continued their work in areas ranging from supply chains to technology and counterterrorism, no senior leadership meetings have been held since July 2025, when Quad foreign ministers last met in Washington.
The sources said that the Quad leaders’ summit, which was scheduled to be hosted by India, was delayed for several months and there is still no clear time frame for its holding. A joint statement issued after the last meeting of the Quad foreign ministers in July 2025 stated that the next such meeting “will be hosted by Australia in 2026.”
Other members of the group have also been frustrated by signals from sections of the US administration that Washington is more focused on outcomes in areas such as maritime security and supply chain resilience than on the platforms used to secure such outcomes, the sources said.
