Quad becoming an action-oriented forum, says US Secretary of State Rubio

New Delhi: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that the Quad grouping is evolving from being a discussion forum into an action-oriented forum, where the four nations come together to discuss areas of common interest and begin to take action.

In his opening remarks at the Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday, Rubio said that his participation in the Quad meeting immediately after being sworn in showcases the US’ commitment to the grouping.

“Over the last three days, not just 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. I want to thank Toshi and Penny as well for joining us, for your willingness to come over here and do this, and it comes at an important time. It was our goal as I began as Secretary of State, and has been pointed out earlier that my first meeting as a Secretary of State was the Quad literally within minutes of being sworn in, and 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 it. And I think we can report to our people respectively that we are beginning to do that pretty aggressively and pretty impressively in the areas of cooperation. And it’s also interesting that on 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,” he added.

Rubio said that each of the four nations brings capabilities to bear on some of the most significant problems faced by the world, including humanitarian response, freedom of navigation, energy security and diversifying supplies of critical minerals and supply chains.

“The most interesting thing about the Quad is not simply that it is a gathering of four strategic allies in which we come together to sort of compare notes about areas of common interest, but also it is increasingly becoming a forum by which we begin to take action. But each of these four nations represented here today brings unique capabilities that collectively we can bring to bear on some of the 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, or the need to diversify our supplies of 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.”

The Quad comprises Australia, India, Japan and the United States, and focuses on strengthening cooperation across key sectors including maritime security, resilient supply chains, critical minerals, infrastructure development, disaster relief and emerging technologies.

IANS