Four foreign ministers meeting LIVE: Signing of India-US Critical Minerals Framework; Jaishankar, Rubio deal with rare earths

Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting LIVE: Foreign ministers of the four Quad nations met on Tuesday 26 May 2026 for their third meeting since September 2024, with the economic implications of the crisis in West Asia, Indo-Pacific security and cooperation on critical minerals dominating the packed agenda at a moment of considerable tension for the grouping.

Critical Minerals: A New Framework and a Bilateral Agreement between India and the US

At the meeting, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the Quad Critical Minerals Framework, an initiative designed to strengthen critical minerals supply chains and their recycling across member states. India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar separately confirmed that New Delhi and Washington were finalizing a bilateral framework covering the security, mining and processing of critical minerals and rare earth materials, a development that signals deepening economic integration between the two countries outside the Quad multilateral framework.

Jaishankar: The Indo-Pacific must remain a driver of global growth

In his opening remarks, Jaishankar outlined India’s vision for the grouping’s role in the region, saying that the Indo-Pacific must remain “a driving force for global growth and stability” and that the Quad must work to ensure maritime security and support economic decisions across the region. Specifically, he called for “trustworthy and transparent” partnerships as the basis for establishing peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific.

Who attended and what has changed since July 2025

The meeting brought together Australian Penny Wong, Jaishankar, Japanese Toshimitsu Motegi and Rubio. When ministers last met on July 1, 2025, they streamlined the grouping’s goals into four areas: maritime and transnational security, economic prosperity and security, humanitarian assistance and emergency response, and the launch of the Quad Critical Minerals Initiative. Since then, US-Israeli strikes on Iran and a series of actions by the Trump administration have raised questions about the grouping’s cohesion and direction, adding urgency to Tuesday’s meeting as the four ministers sought to renew and reaffirm their collective mandate.