Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting LIVE: Ind-US critical minerals framework signed; Jaishankar, Rubio seal rare earths deal

Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting LIVE: China's foreign ministry responded cautiously to the outcomes of the Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting on Tuesday, including the grouping's announcement of a joint port infrastructure project in Fiji.

Beijing said it believes cooperation among countries should promote regional peace and stability, but issued a pointed warning against the formation of closed groupings, stating that it does not support "creating exclusive camps."

On the Quad's joint statement more broadly, China's foreign ministry said cooperation among nations should not hurt mutual trust or undermine cooperation among regional countries, a formulation widely read as a direct signal of Beijing's concern about the Quad's expanding footprint in the Indo-Pacific.

Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting LIVE: Quad issued a formal joint statement following Tuesday's foreign ministers' meeting in New Delhi, covering a range of security and economic concerns.

The grouping condemned attacks on commercial shipping vessels and said it would oppose any future measures inconsistent with the United Nations treaty on marine movement, specifically including the imposition of tolls on international waterways.

The statement also expressed concern over the militarisation of disputed features in the South China Sea. On the economic front, the Quad voiced grave concerns over economic coercion, non-market practices and export restrictions, signalling a unified position against trade practices the four nations regard as destabilising to the rules-based international order.

Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting LIVE: Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday produced concrete outcomes across four areas. On maritime security, the four nations launched new initiatives on surveillance, domain awareness and coast guard coordination to strengthen a free and open Indo-Pacific.

On infrastructure, Quad partners announced a first-of-its-kind collaboration with Fiji on critical port development. On critical minerals, the grouping unveiled the Quad Critical Minerals Framework to strengthen supply chains across mining, processing and recycling.

On energy, the Indo-Pacific Energy Security Initiative was launched to expand cooperation on technology and emergency preparedness, with the US Department of Energy set to host a dedicated Quad Fuel Security Forum later this year.

Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting LIVE: US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor described Tuesday's Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting in New Delhi as "highly productive," saying the wide-ranging discussions among Rubio, Jaishankar, Wong and Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi were focused on advancing peace, stability, security and prosperity across the Indo-Pacific. Posting on X alongside the other ministers, Gor said the Quad "remains a vital force for good and will continue to deliver new initiatives addressing the region's most pressing challenges."

Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting LIVE: Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said following Tuesday's Quad foreign ministers' meeting that the four nations had agreed to strongly oppose any attempts to unilaterally change the status quo by force or coercion, while calling on Indo-Pacific countries to strengthen their collective resilience.

Motegi welcomed both the energy security initiative and the critical minerals framework launched at the meeting as timely and important steps, saying "we will proceed with concrete cooperation" and that the Quad would work to "develop resilience and strengthen capacity and to promote cooperation that truly benefits this region."

He raised concerns over export restrictions on critical minerals, confirmed that discussions on North Korea had taken place including on nuclear, missile and cyber threats, and reaffirmed the grouping's commitment to the complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.

Motegi also underlined the importance of diplomacy in ensuring stability in the Strait of Hormuz and broader peace across the West Asia and Gulf region.

Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting LIVE: Jaishankar outlined the Quad's overarching purpose at Tuesday's foreign ministers' meeting, saying the grouping's goal was to "intensify cooperation among ourselves while helping others." As democratic nations, Jaishankar said, the four Quad members also devoted time to discussing the threat of terrorism, asserting a clear principle of collective solidarity: "Nations subject to terrorist attacks have the right to defend themselves."

Looking ahead, he said the strategic weight of the region would only grow, adding that in the coming days the Indo-Pacific would become even more important to the world.

Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting LIVE: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a new Quad initiative on Indo-Pacific energy security at Tuesday's foreign ministers' meeting, saying the effort was designed to strengthen regional energy resilience across member and partner nations.

Through the initiative, Rubio said, the four Quad partners would work to identify areas of cooperation spanning technology, management, policy, international market analysis and emergency response exercises — a broad framework that signals the grouping's intent to move beyond security into the structural foundations of regional economic stability.

Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting LIVE: Jaishankar described Tuesday's Quad foreign ministers' meeting as highly fruitful, saying the four nations had engaged in wide-ranging discussions on the current state of global affairs with a particular focus on the Indo-Pacific. "We've just concluded a very substantive and productive meeting of the Quad foreign ministers," Jaishankar said, adding that much of the conversation, including bilateral exchanges on the sidelines, was devoted to assessing the present global situation.

He noted that as four maritime democracies spread across different ends of the Indo-Pacific, the Quad members were uniquely placed to offer complementary perspectives on the region. "Because we are four maritime democracies located at different ends of the Indo-Pacific, the exchange of perspectives was an exercise of considerable value," he said.

Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting LIVE: External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio sign India-U.S. Critical Minerals Framework on securing supply of mining and processing of critical minerals and rare earths.

Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting LIVE: S Jaishankar highlighted the areas to focus upon for deepening partnerships among the Quad countries.

Calling the discussions productive at the Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting, Jaishankar said that much of the discussions, and the bilateral exchanges, were devoted to the current state of the world.

"We've just concluded a very substantive and productive meeting of the Quad foreign ministers. Much of the discussions and indeed the bilateral exchanges were devoted to the current state of the world. Being QUAD, we naturally focused on issues of particular relevance to the Indo-Pacific. Because we are four maritime democracies located at different ends of the Indo-Pacific, the exchange of perspectives was an exercise of considerable value," he said

Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting LIVE: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said following the Quad foreign ministers' meeting that the four nations had decided to launch the Indo-Pacific Maritime Surveillance Cooperation Initiative, marking an expansion of the existing Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness Initiative among Quad members. Rubio described the discussions as "very productive" with "real, concrete achievables," and underscored the broader stakes of the grouping's agenda: "Maritime security in the Indo-Pacific is vital national interest not just to Quad countries but to countless countries around the world."

In a separate announcement, Rubio said the US would work with Fiji to advance its port infrastructure, noting it was the first time Quad partners would collaborate together on a port project.

Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting LIVE: Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said following the Quad foreign ministers' meeting that the four nations would begin coordinating maritime surveillance efforts in the Indian Ocean and the Indo-Pacific, while also deepening cooperation against scam centres operating particularly across South East Asia.

Wong also reaffirmed the grouping's shared position on open seas, stating that the Quad members "recognise importance of maintaining principle of freedom of navigation and our opposition to any tolling proposition" — a remark widely read as a pointed reference to Iran's reported demands over the Strait of Hormuz.