Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong arrived in India on May 25 to attend the Foreign Ministers' Meeting of the Quartet. "At this time of instability, the Quartet is an important partnership - 4 countries cooperating to shape a peaceful, stable and prosperous future for the Indo-Pacific region" - Australian Foreign Minister emphasized. The 4 countries are jointly achieving specific results in "maritime security, essential mineral supply, infrastructure development and disaster relief".
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in India on May 23 and had a series of bilateral activities here before attending the meeting.
The Quartet gathers 4 countries towards a free and open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) region. However, the group has not held a national leadership meeting since 2024. The meeting scheduled for the end of 2025 did not take place due to tensions between India and the US over tariffs and many other issues.
The US, Japan and Australia have an important and effective trilateral security agreement, but the main purpose of the Quartet is to bring India into the ranks as another power to increase its influence," Professor of International Relations James Brown at the Tokyo campus of Temple University, USA, pointed out.
In that context, Japan and Australia have made efforts to maintain and operate the 4-party alliance, and the delegation led by Foreign Minister Marco Rubio to India will facilitate the exchange process.
In an article in Foreign Policy magazine, Professor Derek Grossman at the University of Southern California, USA, warned that if US President Donald Trump does not attend the Quartet leaders' meeting at the end of 2026, the group will be "reduced in geopolitical importance and may even lead to the group's complete disintegration".
Mr. Joseph Kristanto - maritime security analyst at S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore, noted: "Uncertainty surrounding the Quartet can also destabilize smaller countries in the region.
However, he rejected the opinions that the alliance is on the verge of collapse. "I don't think the recent tensions in the Quartet show the collapse of common interests; instead, they highlight the growing challenges in managing the partnership between the four countries with different strategic cultures, priorities and expectations," he said.
The Quartet was initiated in 2007, not a coalition with binding commitments to member states but an informal and flexible structure. However, experts believe that healing US-India relations is still very important for the coalition to survive.
Despite increasingly deep defense cooperation and increasing strategic convergence in the Indo-Pacific region, Washington and New Delhi approach partnerships from different angles. The US considers India an important strategic partner, expected to play a greater role in regional balance. At the same time, India remains committed to maintaining strategic autonomy and is cautious with agreements similar to alliance or political bloc commitments" - Mr. Kristanto said. Despite differences, this relationship is maintained by strong structural dynamics, especially common concerns and long-term security in the Indo-Pacific region.
