Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi on Tuesday, 26 May declared that the 11th Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting in New Delhi sends “an unshakable and firm message” to the world — that the four-nation grouping will advance practical cooperation to secure a free and open Indo-Pacific. The meeting, hosted by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, brought together the top diplomats of Australia, India, Japan, and the United States.

Motegi's Opening Remarks

Invoking personal history, Motegi recalled that the inaugural Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting was held in September 2019 during his previous tenure as Japan's foreign minister. “I have special fondness for the Quad Meeting,” he said, noting that this 11th edition reinforces the grouping's collective resolve. He added that the meeting “signifies an unshakable and firm message to the world that the Quad will strongly promote practical cooperation to realise free and open Indo-Pacific.”

Motegi also pointed to the evolution of the Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) framework, which was first advocated 10 years ago. He noted that structural shifts in the international order have since made the framework's update imperative. Citing Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, he said the updated FOIP centres on enabling Indo-Pacific nations to “strengthen resilience and the necessary capacity to determine their own future, including their economic security.”

Jaishankar Sets the Agenda

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar underscored the meeting's momentum, noting that the Quad foreign ministers were convening “for the third time in less than 18 months.” He described the Indo-Pacific as the grouping's “specific limit” and outlined the agenda: supply chain resilience, connectivity choke points, manufacturing and resource concentrations, and critical infrastructure gaps.

“Each one of them offers a new argument for more partnerships, stronger growth and realising the promise of technologies,” Jaishankar said. He stressed that the region must remain a driver of global growth and stability, and that achieving this requires “trusted and transparent partnerships.”

Progress on Core Priorities

Jaishankar reported that Quad officials had, over the preceding months, advanced collaboration across maritime security, critical technologies, economic resilience, and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR). He described progress across these tracks as “encouraging.”

The Quad's agenda spans maritime security, resilient supply chains, critical minerals, infrastructure development, disaster relief, and emerging technologies — a portfolio that has expanded steadily since the grouping was revived at the leader level in 2021.

Why This Meeting Matters

The New Delhi gathering comes amid heightened geopolitical flux — from tensions in the South China Sea to supply chain vulnerabilities exposed by recent global disruptions. The Quad's growing institutionalisation, now meeting at ministerial level for the 11th time, reflects a deliberate effort by member states to translate shared values into concrete deliverables. Notably, this is also one of the first major multilateral engagements in New Delhi to explicitly reference economic security alongside traditional maritime concerns.

The outcome of Tuesday's deliberations is expected to shape the Quad's workplan ahead of the next leaders' summit, with sectoral working groups likely to receive fresh mandates on critical minerals and technology governance.