‘Quad moving from talk to action’: Rubio says leaders’ summit to be held in Manila next month

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday said the Quad was moving beyond diplomatic discussions towards concrete action, with a leaders’ summit expected to take place in Manila next month.

He said the four countries were working to deliver tangible outcomes in infrastructure, disaster response, maritime security and business cooperation.

Speaking at a closing press conference after the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Atlanta, Rubio said the challenge for any grouping such as the Quad was to translate shared priorities into practical results.

“So, you know, the challenge in any time you put together a format like Quad is you can sit, and you can meet, and you can say, ‘We have all these things we wanna work together on, you actually have to do it.’ So in many cases, it’s going from talking about it to doing it,” he said.

The planned Manila summit, expected to take place on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meetings in November, will be the first Quad leaders’ meeting since 2024. 

Infrastructure, business and disaster response on agenda

Rubio said the four countries had made progress on infrastructure projects and were looking to strengthen commercial ties through a proposed business forum.

He said the initiative would allow businesses from India, the United States, Japan and Australia to meet and identify opportunities for cooperation.

Humanitarian assistance and disaster relief were other areas where the grouping had made “substantial progress”, he said.

“We wanna be in a situation where the next time there is a humanitarian and/or crisis or natural disaster in the region, that we can pull our resources to quickly provide assistance to a country that’s been hurt by a typhoon or an earthquake or a mudslide or whatever it might be,” Rubio said.

Maritime domain awareness was another priority, with the four countries looking to pool their resources to improve their understanding of activities both on the surface and underwater.

“I think we’re building really good momentum and I think hopefully when our leaders meet, in November, they will be able to announce some more concrete steps,” he said.

Rubio added that the grouping’s effectiveness would depend on its ability to deliver results rather than simply hold meetings.

‘Quad is not an anti-China coalition’

Asked whether the Quad’s latest statement was directed at China, Rubio said the grouping was not formed to oppose any particular country.

“The Quad is not an anti-anybody. It’s not a, it’s not a format that exists to be against any country,” he said.

He added that if certain activities or behaviour repeatedly originated from one country, that would become evident, but the Quad was not an “anti-China or anti-anybody coalition”.

The four countries had earlier outlined plans to strengthen supply chains, expand access to trusted artificial intelligence, promote critical minerals recycling and deepen maritime cooperation across the Indo-Pacific.

India raises ideas on Black Sea shipping

Rubio also referred to efforts to address disruptions to shipping in the Black Sea, saying the issue had implications for global food and energy security.

He said several countries had spoken up on the matter, with Turkey and India offering ideas on how shipments could continue moving.

“When you talk about the Black Sea, obviously you saw a lot of countries speak up and provide the willingness to both Turkey and India have come to the table with some ideas about how we need to bring shipments moving because this is threatening the world of food security and some energy security as well,” he said.

Rubio later added that India had also expressed an interest in putting forward possible proposals.

The Atlanta meeting was the third Quad foreign ministers’ gathering this year, following meetings in New Delhi in May and Manila in July. The ministers are now looking towards the leaders’ summit next month, where Rubio expects further concrete initiatives to be announced.

(with IANS inputs)