{"id":126620,"date":"2026-05-26T18:18:37","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T13:18:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?p=126620"},"modified":"2026-05-26T18:18:39","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T13:18:39","slug":"australia-india-japan-us-quad-to-build-a-port-unveil-pact-on-critical-minerals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/126620\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia-India-Japan-US Quad to build a port, unveil pact on critical minerals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Web desk(National Times)- The foreign ministers of Australia, India, Japan and the US agreed to jointly build a port in Fiji and signed pacts covering critical minerals and energy security, as they sought to inject fresh energy into the grouping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The brief meeting between the countries\u2019 top diplomats \u2014 Australia\u2019s Penny Wong, India\u2019s S Jaishankar, Japan\u2019s Toshimitsu Motegi and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio \u2014 was the third such gathering of the group known as Quad since September 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Quad meeting came as the US and Iran have been circling around a possible deal to end their three-month&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/live\/iran-israel-war\">conflict<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2002993\">reopen<\/a>&nbsp;the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The group unveiled its first joint infrastructure project, a port in Fiji.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe are going to be partnering on issues of port infrastructure, in particular in response to insufficient port capacity in the Pacific Islands, we are announcing plans to work with Fiji,\u201d Rubio said, adding that the initiative would be \u201ca practical demonstration of our collective ability to deliver high-quality, resilient infrastructure\u201d,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The four-nation group had lost some momentum last year after failing to hold a leaders\u2019 summit, amid tensions between US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi over Washington\u2019s tariffs and other matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe are beginning to show real achievements and real accomplishments,\u201d Rubio said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe are deeply committed to this partnership. It is a linchpin and a cornerstone of our global strategy as a nation in the US.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said the group agreed to launch an initiative on Indo-Pacific Energy Security and a critical minerals framework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The minerals framework will guide how to leverage economic policy tools and coordinate investment to strengthen critical minerals supply chains \u2014 including in mining and processing \u2014 and in critical minerals recycling, Rubio said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The initiative could be significant for Japan after China halted shipments of some minerals used in aerospace, defence and semiconductor industries following a diplomatic dispute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Previous Quad meetings have put forward initiatives to maintain \u201cthe free and open maritime order\u201d in the Indo-Pacific by improving information gathering on what is happening in their waters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2003217\/australia-india-japan-us-quad-to-build-a-port-unveil-pact-on-critical-minerals#leaders-summit\"><\/a>Leaders\u2019 summit<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">New Delhi has pressed for a Trump visit to India, a trip that would likely be tied to a Quad summit. Analysts have questioned whether a lack of leader-level engagement has downgraded the Quad\u2019s importance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Foreign ministers did not comment on the possibility of a summit later this year, but over the weekend, Rubio said that diplomats would work toward a meeting later this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe absence of a leaders\u2019 summit has raised some doubts, but that does not necessarily indicate declining importance,\u201d said Premesha Saha, a senior policy fellow at the Asia Society Australia in Melbourne.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf the Quad can keep delivering at the ministerial and working levels, it can remain relevant even without regular leaders-level signalling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Quad countries share concerns about China\u2019s growing power and Rubio \u2014 who arrived in India on Saturday for a four-day visit aimed at shoring up relations with New Delhi \u2014 has stressed the importance of maintaining a \u201cfree and open Indo-Pacific.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Beijing has criticised the Quad as a Cold War-style construct aimed at containing its development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">India, too, has territorial disputes with China, though Modi had signalled a willingness to improve ties with Beijing amid his tensions with Trump.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Web desk(National Times)- The foreign ministers of Australia, India, Japan and the US agreed to jointly build a port in Fiji and signed pacts covering critical minerals and energy security, as they sought to inject fresh energy into the grouping. The brief meeting between the countries\u2019 top diplomats \u2014 Australia\u2019s Penny Wong, India\u2019s S Jaishankar, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":126621,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-126620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Australia-India-Japan-US Quad to build a port, unveil pact on critical minerals - Nation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/126620\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Australia-India-Japan-US Quad to build a port, unveil pact on critical minerals - Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Web desk(National Times)- The foreign ministers of Australia, India, Japan and the US agreed to jointly build a port in Fiji and signed pacts covering critical minerals and energy security, as they sought to inject fresh energy into the grouping. 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