External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is scheduled to join his counterparts from Australia, Japan and the US at a Quad foreign ministers’ meeting on the sidelines of the ASEAN Framework Meetings in the Philippines this week, the group’s second such gathering in nearly two months.
The Quad foreign ministers last met in New Delhi in late May, when US Secretary of State Marco Rubio traveled to India for talks with Jaishankar. However, the group members have yet to set a date for the Quad leaders’ summit, which was originally scheduled to be hosted by India last year.
The Ministry of External Affairs said on Tuesday that Jaishankar is visiting the Philippine capital, Manila, from July 22 to 23 to participate in foreign ministers’ meetings within the ASEAN framework, including the ASEAN-India meetings, the East Asia Summit and the ASEAN Regional Forum.
The ministry said, without providing details, that he will participate in the Quad foreign ministers’ meeting with their counterparts from Australia, Japan and the United States on the sidelines of meetings related to ASEAN.
Jaishankar will also hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts from several countries.
The ministry said Jaishankar’s visit “underscores India’s deep engagement with ASEAN under the East Policy” and reaffirms New Delhi’s commitment to further strengthen the comprehensive strategic partnership between ASEAN and India.
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The visit is also significant as 2026 has been set as the Year of Maritime Cooperation between ASEAN and India.
The Quad launched an energy security initiative to help Indo-Pacific countries deal with turmoil caused by conflict in West Asia and a project to build a port in Fiji at the last meeting of the group’s foreign ministers in New Delhi on May 26. The group also unveiled new measures to inject momentum into existing cooperation in marine monitoring and vital minerals.
Most of the initiatives were aimed at countering China’s aggressive actions across the Indo-Pacific region and its dominance in sectors such as infrastructure and communications. This was the third meeting of the Quad’s foreign ministers since September 2024, but there was no official word at the time on when the next leaders’ summit would be held.
