WASHINGTON, Jan 22 (Bernama-Kyodo) -- United States (US) Secretary of State Marco Rubio pledged on Tuesday to strengthen the Quad alliance, reaffirming a commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific just hours after being sworn in as Washington’s top diplomat.
Following a meeting in Washington, Rubio and his counterparts from Japan, Australia, and India issued a joint statement underscoring the importance of the rule of law, democratic values, sovereignty, and territorial integrity in the region, Kyodo news agency reported.
The meeting, the first major diplomatic engagement of Donald Trump’s second presidency, signalled that the new administration may adopt a more multilateral approach than widely expected.
Rubio met with Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar to discuss challenges in the Indo-Pacific, particularly amid China’s growing influence.
The four ministers reaffirmed their opposition to unilateral actions aimed at altering the status quo by force or coercion.
They also stressed their commitment to regional maritime, economic, and technological security in the face of increasing threats.
While the statement did not explicitly name any country, a Japanese official confirmed that North Korea was on the agenda.
Speaking to reporters in Washington, Iwaya noted that Rubio’s swift organisation of the meeting, just after Trump’s return to the White House, reflected the administration’s strong commitment to the Quad partnership.
The Quad alliance was elevated to the foreign ministerial level in 2019 during Trump’s first term. His successor, Joe Biden, later raised it to the leader level in 2021, hosting the first in-person Quad summit in Washington that year.
-- BERNAMA-KYODO
