Calling the Quad "an important alliance" in the Indo-Pacific, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday said efforts are on to have another meeting of the grouping this year on the sidelines of a global gathering in the region.
Rubio made these remarks while responding to a question from Indian-American Congressman Ami Bera during a meeting of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee.
"We expect the leaders (meeting)...hoping to be able to do one this year, maybe on the sidelines of another global gathering in the region, but nonetheless a meeting, " Rubio said.
"Not a standalone, but as part of, you know, when they're all going to be at the same time, and it'd be easier. We're working on getting that scheduled," the US Secretary of State said.
In November, the 33rd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting will be held in China's Shenzhen. It will be accompanied by the APEC CEO Summit and the joint ministerial meeting of foreign and trade ministers.
Rubio was in India recently to attend the Quad foreign ministers' meeting.
In a written statement to the Committee, Rubio listed the US role in preventing a war between India and Pakistan among the "tremendous successes" of the US Department of State.
"India and Pakistan were on the verge of an all-out war. The State Department and I personally were involved in de-escalating that conflict and bringing it to an end, a war between two nuclear powers," he said.
Rubio described Quad as an important alliance in the Indo-Pacific region.
"The Quad, an important alliance in the Indo-Pacific between India, Japan, Australia – we've had multiple meetings of those – of that group, including a meeting just last week in India and a follow-up that's going to occur later this year, including a leaders' meeting before the end of the year," he said.
"India's an important strategic ally of the United States; we do a lot of things together," he said, referring to the bilateral trade negotiations.
"We think we're pretty close to getting that done on both sides and want to see it done," Rubio said.
The Quad announced energy security and critical minerals frameworks to mitigate supply chain disruptions and unveiled major measures to upgrade maritime surveillance and port infrastructure across the Indo-Pacific.
The Quad meeting came amid rising global concerns over China's increasing military muscle-flexing in the Indo-Pacific.
The Quad, comprising India, the US, Australia and Japan, has emerged as a key grouping largely focusing on peace, security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
India hosted the meeting in its capacity as the current chair of the coalition.
In the last Quad summit held in Wilmington, United States, in 2024, top leaders of the grouping unveiled major steps to expand maritime security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.
The last Quad foreign ministers' meeting had taken place in Washington DC in July last.
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