India-US tensions, US-China re-engagement and Iran war pose challenges as four foreign ministers meet

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio (R) and Foreign Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar leave after speaking at a joint press conference after the talks in New Delhi May 24, 2026. | Photo credit: AP

The Quad foreign ministers will meet for the first time in almost a year as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar hosts US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Tuesday (May 26, 2026). The foreign ministers will also approach Prime Minister Narendra Modi, an adviser to the Ministry of External Affairs said.

Ministers last met on July 1, 2025, when they updated the goals for the Quad and simplified them 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.

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But rapid developments, including US-Israeli strikes on Iran and other actions by the Donald Trump administration, have raised questions about the grouping’s viability and ministers will have their work cut out for them as they seek to restore their mandate. In addition, they will discuss whether it is possible to hold the Quad Summit in India later this year, or take a decision to downgrade the grouping by meeting regularly only at the level of foreign ministers, as was the case before 2021, given India’s difficulties in planning the summit in 2024 and 2025.

In particular, tensions between India and the US have slowed relations over the past year, amid differences over the India-Pakistan conflict, strained trade talks after the US imposed a whopping 50% tariff on Indian goods, Trump’s comments about India as a “dead economy” and immigration restrictions by the US During his four-day visit to India, Mr Rubio faced questions from a journalist from the US president. reposting an anti-immigrant rant describing India as a “hellhole”.

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“The president (Donald Trump) loves India. The president is a big fan of India, a big fan of Prime Minister Modi. I wouldn’t be here if the president didn’t want me here. He wouldn’t send someone like Sergio (Gor) to be our ambassador, someone who is very close to the president,” Mr Rubio told reporters on Monday. “I mean, people on social media and in every country in the world say stupid things all the time, unfortunately,” he added, hinting at “generic” comments online.

As a result, the restoration of Indo-US relations and the return of some degree of trust will likely have to precede progress on the Quad, and in particular US President Donald Trump’s visit to India for a summit. Although Mr. Rubio extended an invitation to Mr. Modi to visit Washington in the next few months, it is Mr. Trump’s turn to visit India, and Mr. Modi is expected to go to the U.S. for the G-20 summit in December anyway. Before that, his travel schedule had already filled in – Mr Modi is expected to fly back to Europe in June to attend a G-7 event in France and a bilateral visit to Slovakia. He will then travel east to Indonesia, New Zealand and Australia in July and is scheduled to host the BRICS summit in Delhi in September, which Russian President Vladimir Putin has already announced he will attend. Ms Wong, who will hold talks with Mr Jaishankar on Tuesday evening, is expected to discuss Australia’s chairmanship of the next Quad, as well as Mr Modi’s visit.

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Prioritizing a quad can be more difficult with other travel movements in mind. In September, Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to be in the US to return Mr Trump’s visit to China, which will take precedence. Moreover, signs that Washington is seeking a more accommodating stance toward Beijing could raise concerns about the long-term future of the Indo-Pacific grouping, which was established to counter Chinese actions in the region. Acting US Navy Secretary Hung Cao’s answers to a Senate defense subcommittee hearing last Thursday suggested the US is also scaling back support for Taiwan after Mr Cao said the Pentagon had “suspended” $14 billion in arms sales to Taipei to deal with commitments over the Iran war.

Meanwhile, the on-again, off-again US-Iran peace talks amid a truce could also cast a shadow over the Quad talks as they discuss how to deal with the impact of the Strait of Hormuz blockade on trade and energy security in the Indo-Pacific. While the other partners in the grouping, Australia and Japan, are treaty allies of the US, India is not. Although Mr. Rubio mentioned the India-US “strategic alliance” nearly a dozen times during Sunday’s press conference with Mr. Jaishankar, it remains to be seen whether the US will call on the Quad partners to send their militaries to open or patrol the Strait of Hormuz. During the Jaishankar-Rubio talks, the government also appeared to indicate its discomfort with US sanctions on Indian imports of Russian oil, although these have now been lifted. “We have pointed out that distortions and restrictions are not helping us,” ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in response to a question from The Hindu on Monday.

Published – 25 May 2026 21:42 IST