The United States, India, Australia and Japan announced this Tuesday new cooperation projects in maritime matters and critical minerals, which represents the reactivation of their Quad alliance, a forum viewed with suspicion by China.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated this Tuesday in New Delhi that the Quad must stop being a forum that “meets and talks about problems” and become a mechanism that “does something about them”, as a ministerial meeting opened focused on maritime security, energy and supply chains in the Indo-Pacific.

“Our goal has been to turn this from a forum where we meet and talk about problems to one where we actually do something about it,” Rubio said during the opening of the meeting with his counterparts in the Indian capital.

The meeting brings together the foreign ministers of the United States, India, Japan and Australia, four countries that present the Quad as a platform for cooperation in a region marked by competition, the security of maritime routes and the need to diversify energy supplies, critical minerals and technology.

Rubio maintained that the group's areas of work have become even more relevant due to recent events in the world, citing humanitarian response, energy security, freedom of navigation, critical minerals and supply chains.

“Maritime democracies, pluralistic societies and market economies”

Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, host of the meeting, said that in recent months officials from the four countries have made progress on priorities such as maritime security, critical technologies and economic resilience.

“As maritime democracies, pluralistic societies and market economies, we share a responsibility towards a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Jaishankar said.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong warned that the four countries are meeting in a region subject to "accelerated competition", deterioration of the strategic environment and economic tensions.

For his part, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi recalled that this is the eleventh ministerial meeting of the Quad and affirmed that the meeting sends a strong message of cooperation to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific.

The New Delhi meeting also serves as a prelude to new diplomatic consultations in a week marked by Rubio's presence in India and by the four partners' attempt to show continuity in a forum that Washington considers central to its policy towards the Indo-Pacific.