By Zarak Khan and AFP | 2026-05-27

The Quad nations -- the United States, India, Australia and Japan -- have pledged $20 billion to secure critical mineral supply chains and launched their first joint infrastructure project. The efforts are meant to advance regional cooperation on maritime security and energy resilience across the Indo-Pacific.

The foreign ministers met in New Delhi on May 26, where U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio joined Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong for the third Quad ministerial since September 2024.

The Quad said in a joint statement members would together mobilize $20 billion in government and private funding to strengthen critical mineral supply chains, including by identifying projects in the four countries.

Critical minerals

The Quad Critical Minerals Framework will guide how members leverage economic policy tools and coordinate investment, including in mining, processing and recycling. In critical minerals, the U.S. administration has turned to more-traditional diplomacy by building networks with allies amid growing anxiety over China's domination of resources central to high-end technology industries.

The initiative could prove particularly significant for Japan after China halted shipments of several minerals used in the aerospace, defense and semiconductor industries following a diplomatic dispute that flared up in November.

Separately, India and the United States agreed on a joint framework to secure supplies of critical minerals and rare earths, including cooperation in mining and processing, Jaishankar said May 26.

S. Pacific and maritime tech initiatives

In a first, Wong said the Quad was cooperating on assisting port development in Fiji. It is a key island nation in the South Pacific, where China has made a concerted push for greater strategic and infrastructure influence.

The Quad set a goal of connecting South Pacific islands through undersea cables by the end of the year, integrating them more closely with the four democracies.

"We recognize our obligation -- our responsibility -- to provide real choices, particularly as strategic circumstances in our region are deteriorating," Wong said.

The four powers said they would cooperate on two maritime initiatives -- one combining their surveillance capabilities and another providing enhanced real-time information to commercial traffic at sea.

Rubio said roughly 60% of global maritime trade passes through the Indo-Pacific, calling it "a vital national interest not just to the four countries represented here today, but to dozens and dozens of countries, countless countries around the world."

Concerns over China, Iran

Concerns about China remain a key driver of Quad cooperation, say analysts.

"The animating force behind the Quad, the challenge from China, is as permanent as anything gets in international relations," the Australian Strategic Policy Institute said in a May 25 analysis.

The ministers announced an energy security initiative and called for freer access to the Strait of Hormuz. They condemned attacks on commercial shipping and opposed any imposition of tolls, stressing the uninterrupted flow of global commerce through the strait and the Red Sea.

Transport through the strait has been imperiled since February 28, the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran.

Disputes over waterways

Any disruption in the Strait of Hormuz will have serious consequences for regional energy security, as the Indo-Pacific is facing "acute economic stress," said Wong.

In a joint statement, the four ministers said they remained "seriously concerned" about the situation in the South China and East China seas. They reiterated their "strong opposition to any destabilizing or unilateral actions including by force or coercion."

They condemned "dangerous and coercive actions," including "obstruction of freedom of navigation" and the "militarization of disputed features" -- language widely seen as directed at Beijing.

China criticized the Quad's latest initiatives, with Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning saying Beijing opposed "exclusive cliques" and "bloc confrontations."

China calls almost the entire South China Sea its territory and has militarized several disputed features. Its sweeping territorial claims overlap with those of several Southeast Asian nations, while Beijing and Tokyo have a separate dispute in the East China Sea.

Encouraging signs of progress

Washington wants the Quad to focus on "deliverables" rather than meetings, said Rubio. Cooperation is progressing "pretty aggressively," he added.

He called the grouping "a linchpin and a cornerstone of our global strategy," saying the four countries shared "strong values -- strong, vibrant democracies" with "many aligned interests."

The meeting showed the Quad was moving from discussion to implementation, said Jaishankar.

"The Quad has become much more purposeful, much more substantive, much more outcome-driven," he told reporters.