New Delhi: The four-nation Quad, at its foreign ministers’ meeting in Washington on Wednesday, sent a strong message to China by vowing to defend a “free and open Indo-Pacific region” and “strongly opposing any unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion”. The Quad meeting was immediately followed by a bilateral meeting between new US secretary of state Marco Rubio and external affairs minister S. Jaishankar, wherein the US asked India to “address concerns related to irregular migration” (illegal immigration by Indians to the US). The US also expressed a desire to further strengthen trade, defence and energy ties with India and advance the initiative for Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) bilateral partnership.
The Quad meeting took place first in the early hours of Wednesday (IST) and was also attended by Japanese foreign minister Takeshi Iwaya and Australian foreign minister Penny Wong, apart from Mr Jaishankar and Mr Rubio, who hosted the meeting just hours after assuming office. It was also reiterated at the meeting that the next Quad Leaders’ Summit would be hosted this year by India.
In a joint statement, the Quad nations said: “We, the secretary of state of the United States and the foreign ministers of Australia, India, and Japan, met today in Washington DC to reaffirm our shared commitment to strengthening a free and open Indo-Pacific where the rule of law, democratic values, sovereignty, and territorial integrity are upheld and defended. Our four nations maintain our conviction that international law, economic opportunity, peace, stability, and security in all domains, including the maritime domain, underpin the development and prosperity of the peoples of the Indo-Pacific. We also strongly oppose any unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion.” The Quad added: “We are committed to strengthening regional maritime, economic, and technology security in the face of increasing threats, as well as promoting reliable and resilient supply chains. We look forward to advancing the work of the Quad in the coming months and will meet together on a regular basis as we prepare for the next Quad Leaders’ Summit hosted by India.”
After the separate bilateral meeting between Mr Rubio and Mr Jaishankar that took place immediately thereafter, the US said: “Secretary of state Marco Rubio met with Indian external affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar today in Washington, DC. Secretary Rubio and external affairs minister Jaishankar affirmed a shared commitment to continuing to strengthen the partnership between the United States and India. They discussed a wide range of topics, including regional issues and opportunities to further deepen the US-India relationship, in particular on critical and emerging technologies, defence cooperation, energy, and on advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific region. Secretary Rubio also emphasised the Trump administration’s desire to work with India to advance economic ties and address concerns related to irregular migration.”
The EAM too said on X: “Delighted to meet@secrubio for his first bilateral meeting after assumption of office as secretary of state. Reviewed our extensive bilateral partnership, of which @secrubio has been a strong advocate. Also exchanged views on a wide range of regional and global issues. Look forward to closely working with him to advance our strategic cooperation.”
As reported by this newspaper on Wednesday, a list drawn up by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sometime last year has reportedly estimated that 14.5 lakh illegal immigrants are slated for deportation from the US, among which 18,000 are allegedly Indians. Sources in New Delhi however had indicated that the US will need to provide evidence to India that these 18,000 people are Indians before any move may be considered to accept them back. This assumes significance as new US President Donald Trump has signalled that the US will get much tougher now on illegal immigration. With this being one of the new Trump administration’s top priorities, it was therefore a given that this issue would come up for discussion in the bilateral meeting between Mr Rubio and Mr Jaishankar. Soon after Mr Trump’s electoral victory in the US presidential polls in November last year, India had said it does not support illegal immigration and was closely working with the United States to tackle this and work on lawful migration which it termed as an important part of the India-US relationship as a large number of Indian students and professionals are living in the United States. New Delhi had said it only supports lawful migration permitted through Migration and Mobility Agreements inked earlier with several countries. It may be noted that American authorities had said last year that the US has deported more than 1,100 Indian nationals back to India over the past one year through Charter removal flights and also through commercial flights.
Bilateral trade was also discussed in detail in the bilateral meeting, given the views of Mr Trump in the past that India is among countries unfairly imposing high tariffs on American goods. With Washington threatening to impose retaliatory high tariffs on countries it perceives to be indulging in unfair trade practices, it was also certain that the issue of tariffs in trade would be discussed during the two foreign ministers’ meeting. New Delhi had said two months ago that bilateral trade between two nations had touched $190 billion annually, comprising both goods and services.