On Monday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held meetings with his counterparts from Australia and Japan at Washington DC. All four QUAD—India, Australia, Japan and the US–foreign ministers are here to attend Donald Trump’s swearing-in on Monday. Trump administration’s secretary of state-elect Marco Rubio is likely to meet the other three foreign ministers of QUAD countries.
“Delighted to meet FM @SenatorWong, a Quad colleague, in Washington DC today. As always, enjoyed our discussion on the state of the world.” Jaishankar posted on X after meeting Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong. “Reviewed the progress in our bilateral cooperation. Also discussed developments pertaining to Quad,” he said in another post after his meeting with the Japanese foreign minister.
The Japanese Foreign Ministry put more details of the 40-minute meeting, saying this year marks the 40th anniversary of the signing of the agreement on cooperation in the field of science and technology. “They (the two ministers) concurred to designate the period from April this year to March of the following year as ‘Japan-India Science, Technology and Innovation Exchange Year’ (STIY25) to further advance cooperation by leveraging each other’s strengths in the fields of science, technology, and innovation.”
The Japanese Foreign Ministry said, “Minister Jaishankar said he would like to deepen bilateral relations together with Minister Iwaya”. During the US visit, Jaishankar will also meet representatives of the incoming Trump-administration. Jaishankar would be looking to catch up with two vital Trump appointees—the Secretary of State-elect Marco Rubio and the National Security Advisor (NSA)-elect Michael Waltz. Rubio, a long-time votary of stronger US-India ties, had, last year introduced the ‘United States-India Defence Cooperation Act of 2024’, which aims to enhance the military relationship between the two countries. Rubio has batted to treat India akin to a NATO ally in specific defence deals. His leadership could push forward technology sharing in the military domain.
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