Marco Rubio said after the Atlanta meeting that the Quad opposes behaviours, not countries. The grouping also prioritised supply-chain resilience, economic security and expanded Indo-Pacific cooperation.Japan's Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong at the Quad Foreign Minister's meet in Atlanta.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday said the Quad was not a grouping formed to oppose China or any other country, arguing that its focus was on addressing certain behaviours and activities rather than targeting a particular nation."The Quad is not against anybody. It's not a format that exists to oppose any country," Rubio told reporters after a meeting of foreign ministers from the United States, Australia, India and Japan in Atlanta.He acknowledged, however, that the concerns raised by the four countries were repeatedly linked to one nation, without explicitly naming China."To the extent that we express concerns within the Quad, those concerns are about behaviours and activities.
Those activities or behaviours are repeatedly coming from one country. That's going to be obvious to everybody," he said. "But it is not an anti-China or anti-anybody coalition," Rubio added, describing the Quad as "a cooperative arrangement between four countries that share common interests and a common opposition to certain behaviours"."That's what we'll continue to point to," he said.
Rubio's remarks came after Quad foreign ministers pledged to strengthen reliable global supply chains and expressed grave concerns over economic coercion, export restrictions and non-market practices, while stopping short of directly naming China.The joint statement by the four members of the Indo-Pacific grouping came amid growing tensions over Beijing's restrictions on critical mineral exports and Washington's efforts to bring together G20 countries concerned about China's dominance in rare earths and other critical minerals.QUAD FLAGS CONCERNS OVER ECONOMIC COERCIONThe ministers reiterated their commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, underlining the importance of economic security in maintaining global stability and prosperity, including through reliable and open supply chains."They expressed grave concerns regarding economic coercion, including through arbitrary export restrictions, as well as non-market policies and practices that result in overcapacity to disrupt global supply chains in critical industries," the joint statement said.The ministers also emphasised the "absolute necessity to protect and preserve navigational rights and freedoms in the Strait of Hormuz, the Red Sea, and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait".The grouping pledged more than $85 million in assistance to support trusted artificial intelligence technologies across the Indo-Pacific. It also announced plans for a new initiative to identify vulnerabilities in semiconductor and related supply chains before they cause disruptions.RUBIO WANTS TO EXPAND QUAD COOPERATIONRubio said Washington had invested considerable time in the Quad and wanted to build on its existing work through specific projects and initiatives.These include a $20 million project in Palau aimed at improving its digital infrastructure.He said the four countries had also made substantial progress in developing mechanisms to pool resources during humanitarian crises and natural disasters.
They were additionally planning to establish a business forum to help companies from the four nations explore opportunities to work together.The Atlanta meeting was the third gathering of Quad foreign ministers this year. It took place shortly before Rubio hosted the concluding session of a meeting of foreign ministers from the broader Group of 20 major economies, which includes China.TRUMP MAY ATTEND QUAD SUMMIT IN MANILAPreparations are also underway for US President Donald Trump to attend his first formal meeting of Quad leaders next month in Manila, on the sidelines of a conference of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.Rubio said an announcement on the proposed meeting would "hopefully" come soon, but offered no further details.- EndsWith inputs from