Quad Unveils Fiji Port Project, Critical Minerals Pact
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- Quad foreign ministers from Australia, India, Japan, and the US met in New Delhi on May 26—the third such gathering since September 2024—with Penny Wong, S. Jaishankar, Toshimitsu Motegi, and Marco Rubio attending.
- Marco Rubio announced the Quad's first joint infrastructure project, a port in Fiji, framed as 'a practical demonstration of our collective ability to deliver high-quality, resilient infrastructure' in response to insufficient port capacity in the Pacific Islands.
- The group also launched an Indo-Pacific Energy Security initiative and a critical minerals framework covering mining, processing, and recycling, aimed at coordinating investment to strengthen supply chains.
- The critical minerals framework carries particular weight for Japan, which has been hit by China's halt of mineral shipments used in aerospace, defense, and semiconductor industries following a diplomatic dispute.
- The Quad lost momentum last year when it failed to hold a leaders' summit amid tensions between Trump and Modi over Washington's tariffs, though Rubio insisted the US remains 'deeply committed' to the partnership.
- China has labeled the Quad a Cold War-style construct aimed at containing its development, and India also has territorial disputes with Beijing even as Modi has signaled willingness to improve ties.
- Premesha Saha of the Asia Society Australia said the Quad 'can remain relevant even without regular leaders-level signalling' if it keeps delivering at the ministerial and working levels.
Why it matters: After being written off as a talking shop, the Quad now has its first physical deliverable—a Fiji port—and a minerals framework that directly hedges Japan's vulnerability to Chinese supply coercion. New Delhi also lands Rubio's four-day visit and is pushing for a Trump trip tied to a revived leaders' summit.
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