Transcript of Special briefing by MEA on Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (May 26, 2026)

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Good afternoon friends, I welcome you to this briefing by Additional Secretary, Shri Nagaraj Naidu on the Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting that was just held this morning. You would have seen that we've released several of the documents. It was a successful visit and we've had some very meaningful outcomes. For more on the outcomes, and as to all the discussions that have happened in the Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting, I turn it over to Shri Nagaraj Naidu.

Shri Nagaraj Naidu, Additional Secretary: Thank you. A very good afternoon to one and all. The 11th Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting was held earlier today at Hyderabad House. It was hosted by External Affairs Minister, Dr. S. Jaishankar. The meeting, as all of you are aware, was attended by the Foreign Ministers of Australia and Japan and the Secretary of State of the United States. The Quad ministers had an opportunity to take a review of the progress of the Quad agenda, and discussed regional and global developments concerning the Indo-Pacific. The meeting reaffirmed the Quad's commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific and emphasized that Quad continues to evolve as a practical and an action-oriented platform, delivering tangible benefits for the region.

Discussions focused around four pillars of Quad cooperation. The first pillar is maritime and transnational security; two, economic prosperity and security; three, critical and emerging technologies; and four, humanitarian assistance and disaster response. The Ministers underscored the importance of maritime security and resilient sea lanes in the Indo-Pacific. The Quad has expanded its cooperation under the IPMDA, which is the Indo-Pacific Maritime Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness, including efforts towards a comprehensive common operational picture across the Indo-Pacific.

The Quad today launched the Indo-Pacific Maritime Surveillance Collaboration, the IPMSC. This is aimed to strengthen the coordination in maritime surveillance. IPMSC, with the integration of the latest technologies, will augment the IPMDA and enable sharing of real-time information and provide an enhanced picture of vessels. This effort will initially be focused on the Indian Ocean region.

Counter-terrorism is a significant pillar of the Quad cooperation. Ministers strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including cross-border terrorism. The joint statement specifically condemned the terrorist attack in Pahalgam in April 2025, and reiterated the need for decisive international action against terrorist entities, finances, and sponsors.

Economic security and resilient supply chains featured prominently in the discussions. The Quad announced the "Quad Critical Minerals Initiative Framework" to strengthen cooperation in mining, processing, recycling, and investment across trusted critical mineral supply chains. The idea is to mobilize public and private sector support and deepen cooperation in various areas including regulatory practices, investment facilitation, recycling technologies, and resilient supply chains essential for advanced manufacturing and emerging technologies.

The Ministers underlined the importance of freedom of navigation, unimpeded commerce, and the safety and security of seafarers, including through key maritime routes. In light of the recent disruptions in global energy markets, the Quad has launched the Quad initiative on Indo-Pacific Energy Security. The effort is aimed at leveraging the unique resources that Quad partners bring to the table. And the idea is to come up with an engagement plan that will focus on technology, management, international market analysis, and emergency response.

Building on the success of the Quad Ports of the Future conference that India had hosted in Mumbai last year, The Quad has reaffirmed its commitment to trusted and resilient infrastructure, including port infrastructure development in Fiji. The ministers emphasized the importance of trusted technology partnerships in areas such as 5G, 6G, AI, Open RAN, semiconductors, digital standards, and strengthening undersea cable connectivity across the Indo-Pacific.

The Quad also announced cooperation on next-generation communication standards and digital identity interoperability. The Quad reaffirmed its commitment to practical cooperation in the domain of HADR. The Quad also highlighted progress under the IPLN, which is the Indo-Pacific Logistics Network, which is aimed at enabling faster and more effective civilian disaster response across the Indo-Pacific. Overall, the Foreign Ministers' meeting has demonstrated the Quad's continued focus on practical cooperation and delivery-oriented initiatives that contribute to peace, stability, resilience, and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific.

At the end of the meeting, Quad partners have adopted four documents: a Joint Statement, a Fact Sheet, a Joint Statement on the Indo-Pacific Energy Security, and the Quad Critical Minerals Initiative Framework. All of these four documents are already uploaded on the MEA website. Thank you very much.

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Thank you. With that, we open the floor for questions.

Akhilesh Suman, DD News: Sir, I am Akhilesh Suman from DD News. Strait of Hormuz is one of the major problems of the world and specifically Indo-Pacific countries and Global South. So when the four Foreign Ministers meet today, what was the orientation of the discussion and was there any, you know, joint action plan for opening, reopening the Strait of Hormuz?

Umashankar Singh: Main Umashankar Singh, independent journalist. Abhi aapne bataya ki kaise ek pehal ki gayi hai surveillance ko leke... Indo-Pacific Maritime Surveillance Collaboration ki jo pehal hai, wo ki gayi hai. Mera sawal ye hai ki ye kya surveillance iske zariye kiya jayega? Kyunki hume ye pata hai ki NATO jo hai wo ek military block nahi hai aur ye kisi ek desh ke khilaaf bhi nahi hai. Kya ye ek collective defense mechanism ki taraf badhne ka pehla kadam, us taur pe isko dekh sakte hain? Thank you.

[Approximate Translation: Question In Hindi] I am Umashankar Singh, an independent journalist. Just now, you mentioned how an initiative has been launched regarding surveillance … the Indo-Pacific Maritime Surveillance Collaboration initiative. My question is: what kind of surveillance will be carried out through this? Because we know that (unlike) NATO (this) is not a military bloc, and it is also not against any one country. Can this be seen as the first step towards moving in the direction of a collective defense mechanism? Thank you.

Kadambini Sharma: I'm Kadambini Sharma, independent journalist. Sir, I want to ask this question on critical minerals understanding. It says that the framework will strengthen critical mineral supply chains in mining, processing, and recycling. So what is this system of recycling? Will there be any special systems in countries or specifically in India? Thank you, sir.

Neeraj, News18 India: Sir, Neeraj News18 India se. Aaj sanyukt press varta ke dauran ye kaha gaya ki 18 mahine mein teesri Videsh Mantriyon ki baithak hai, ab se thodi der pehle aapne kaha ki 11vi Videsh Mantriyon ki baithak hai. Lekin ab tak 18 mahine mein koi leaders' sammelan nahi hua hai aur ye maana ja raha hai ki America bahut gambhir nahi hai ise lekar. Kya is baare mein koi baat-cheet hui? Sajha bayan mein is baat ka zikr bhi kar deta hoon, jisme kaha gaya hai ki aane wale waqt mein Quad leaders' sammelan hoga aur agla Videsh Mantriyon ka sammelan hoga. Ye sammelan kaha honge?

[Approximate Translation: Question In Hindi] Sir, Neeraj from News18 India. During the joint press briefing today, it was said that this is the third meeting of the Foreign Ministers in 18 months, and a little while ago you mentioned that this is the 11th meeting of the Foreign Ministers. However, so far there has been no leaders' summit in these 18 months, and it is being perceived that America is not very serious about it. Was there any discussion on this matter?

I would also like to mention that the joint statement says there will be a Quad leaders' summit in the coming time, along with the next Foreign Ministers' meeting. Where will these meetings be held?

Krishn Mohan Sharma, Bharat Express: Sir, Krishn Mohan Sharma Bharat Express se. Ek sawal uthaya ja raha hai ki Quad ke jo sammelan ho raha hai Indo-Pacific, lekin usmein third party ke baare mein charcha ki ja rahi hai aur third party ka usmein involvement nahi hai. Matlab wo China ka ek uspe reaction aaya hai, toh usmein ye maana ja raha hai ki maritime security ki baat karein ya Indo-Pacific ki baat karein, toh usmein uska kya stand rehne wala hai aur hamara kya stand hai?

[Approximate Translation: Question In Hindi] Sir, Krishn Mohan Sharma from Bharat Express. A question is being raised regarding the Quad Summit and the Indo-Pacific, that discussions are taking place about a third party even though that third party is not involved in it. In other words, China has reacted to it, so it is being asked whether we talk about maritime security or the Indo-Pacific, what will be the stand be on this, and what is our stand?

Huma Siddiqui, Strat News: Sir, I'm Huma Siddiqui. The US Secretary of State also mentioned something about a Coast Guard joint action ... So if you can talk about that and also ... you mentioned about energy security. You talked about the Quad talking about energy security. If you can talk, if you can give...

Shri Nagaraj Naidu, Additional Secretary: Thank you. I think if you look at the, the Joint Statement that has been released today, I think contextually speaking, we find ourselves at that moment wherein the international waters are increasingly getting closed, and that is impacting our overall energy security, particularly not just India, but many countries across the Indo-Pacific. And I think all Quad partners agreed to this.

And there was a long discussion on it as to what countries could do, how do we ensure affordable energy to, for example, for India 1.4 billion people. What are we doing? How are we trying to diversify our sources from where, which, we can obtain our energy? Similarly, Australia was sharing their experiences and Japan was sharing its experiences.

Overall, I think the idea was how do we ensure that as Quad partners we can work together to ensure freedom of navigation, unimpeded commerce, because the rights and the safety of our seafarers is also involved. And in the midst of many of these complex global situations that we see, it is the seafarers that who keep getting impacted a lot. And Quad, if you look at the joint statement, there is a specific reference to this element also.

So as the Quad Ministers did deliberate on this for quite some time, and connected to this is the joint statement that we have specifically released on this occasion which highlights as to how the Quad partners are spotlighting energy security. As I had said in my briefing note also, our attempt is to ensure … how do we leverage the unique resources and capabilities that the Quad partners can bring to bear, and prepare an engagement plan.

This plan will focus on not just technology management, policy, but also international market analysis as well as emergency response. How can we respond to such emergency situations? What are the best practices? So I think Quad … the Foreign Ministers spoke on this issue at quite a length. And it is on that basis that some of these documents have also been released. I would encourage you to kindly look at this joint statement, there are some very novel ideas that we have put forward.

And I have heard a question on the surveillance that we had earlier talked about. This is the Quad, the Indo-Pacific Maritime Surveillance Cooperation. Surveillance should not be seen as militarization of the Quad. Neither is IPMDA, the Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness. The idea today is that the international waterways today are, are you know, getting clogged. At the same time, there are a lot of grey ships around, there are dark ships around. So countries, you know, in the Indo-Pacific sometimes do not have access to such technologies.

So, Quad partners have come together. Some of these technologies are very, very expensive. They are available commercially. So what Quad partners are doing together is to somehow buy this. For example, we have the Indian Ocean Region, the IOR, wherein we kind of get the data from the United States and this data is then circulated to friendly countries who need such data for their own safety issues.

So, this is something that we have discussed within the Quad domain. This IPMDA project has been going on for quite some time, it is not new. The additional layer that we have added through the IPMSC is to bring in more technology to bear. So, IPMDA will top up with IPMSC and this will enable us to provide real-time data to partners, particularly and give them an enhanced picture of the kind of vessels that are operating in the waters. So that is the whole focus on the IPMSC.

But, we have seen a question on critical minerals and the focus on recycling. Today the entire discussion around critical minerals, rare earths, etc., has taken immense traction. And the whole issue of how do you ensure supply chain resilience; everybody seems to be asking the same question.

But not everybody has the ability to process rare earths, so that has become a huge challenge because not many countries have put resources into processing and extraction of some of these rare earth resources. And as we advance and focus more on new technologies, the demand for critical minerals is only going to rise. So, how do you ensure that, for example, all of you are using smartphones, so the amount of critical minerals that could get into a smartphone is something that we need to think about.

So as your automobiles are becoming extremely smart. If you look at an average automobile today, the dashboards are completely digital. All of them require rare earths. So as we keep growing and the society's and technology becomes more smarter, and in a country as large as India, you need access to critical minerals.

So, you are looking at the entire value chain of critical minerals, including recycling, because end of the day, if you have the technology to extract critical minerals out of electronics that have been used but are going to be anyway disposed of, so that will be a huge game changer. And it is this area wherein we think that India can come together, because end of the day, recycling is not going to be easy. You also need large quantities of products to extract your resources from, and I think the idea is how do you bring private sector, public sector, Quad partners together and identify relevant projects which can really work for the Indo-Pacific. So that was the whole idea.

There was a discussion that this is a third Quad Foreign Ministers' meeting in the last 18 months. Yes, the Quad, as you know, even Secretary Rubio in his intervention had mentioned that less than 24 hours since he was confirmed as the Secretary of State, he had hosted the Quad foreign ministers in Washington, D.C. on the 21st of January 2025. So, it was his first meeting with the Quad Foreign Ministers. This was soon followed up by a second Quad Foreign Ministers' meeting in July, and this is the third occasion that the Foreign Ministers are meeting. This actually talks about how active the Quad is.

The Quad, the way we work is that there are a number of working groups in which conversations are happening almost on a regular basis, whether it is the Counter-Terrorism Working Group, whether it is the Infrastructure Working Group, whether it is the Quad Maritime Security Working Group or the Critical and Emerging Technologies Working Group. So, the Quad is actually a very active group. Practically every month, there are about close to five to six working groups that get to meet and that is the reason why we require in some sense the Quad foreign ministers to keep doing a review of the kind of work that the Quad working groups are delivering.

As far as the Summit is concerned, I think Quad leaders have just met. The Quad foreign ministers have just met today. The Quad usually discusses these dates and occasions where it is convenient for the leaders to meet because leaders' schedules always are very, very difficult to pin down.

There have been in the past occasions wherein, for example, the summit had taken place in Delaware in 2024, it was actually supposed to be hosted by India, but then as a gesture to President Biden, who was leaving the White House, it was decided that perhaps it could be done in Delaware. So we leave it to our seniors, our foreign ministers, they are in touch with each other, and even if you see there is a mention of the summit and the foreign ministers' meeting in the joint statement as to when, where, I think we will come back to you. This will be a great occasion for us. A summit-level meeting is always something that even we look forward to.

There was a question … Quad at sea. Quad at sea is an element that we think... it is actually something that we have started last year, and this year India will be hosting it. It is to bring the coast guards of the four countries together and enhance cooperation. We would like to understand as to how coast guards of Japan operate, Australia operate, the United States, and what are the lessons that we could take from them. So, this is an additional dimension of Quad cooperation.

There is a lot of learning. India has a very long coastline, and we are very conscious of what we need to be doing, what could be done. These are the areas where I think Quad can really enhance its learning and by enhancing its learning is when we could actually take it back to our Indo-Pacific partners who are looking at good examples. So I think I've taken all questions.

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: There was one question about Quad's purpose.

Shri Nagaraj Naidu, Additional Secretary: Can you please repeat your question?

Krishan Mohan Sharma, Bharat Express: Krishan Mohan Sharma Bharat Express se. China ka ek statement aaya hai ki jab Indo-Pacific ki hum baat kar rahe hain to third party ko usme discuss kiya ja raha hai paroksh roop se ya aparoksh roop se, lekin ye koshish ye ki ja rahi hai ki dusre party ke participation ko neutralize kar diya jaye ya kam kar diya jaye.

[Approximate Translation: Question in Hindi] My question is from Krishan Mohan Sharma of Bharat Express. A statement has come from China saying that when we talk about the Indo-Pacific, a third party is being discussed either directly or indirectly. However, an attempt is being made to neutralize or reduce the participation of the other party.

Shri Nagaraj Naidu, Additional Secretary: I see, the Quad, the Quad here is not... the Quad's existence is not because we need to address a particular geography's concerns. I think the Quad has come together way back in 2004. This is 2026, we have been... the Quad has been operating now for a very long time. And as we always keep saying, our focus has always within the Quad been to deliver practical projects.

The Quad has come together at the time... everybody knows at the time of the COVID pandemic, how the Quad came together and had the pandemic response that was put together in delivering of vaccines. Similarly, I think a lot many partners don't realize if you look at some of our previous fact sheets, for example, India through the Quad platform we are delivering off-grid solar projects all along East Africa. We are also doing projects in Fiji. So, I don't think the Quad is... there is always an attempt to perhaps paint Quad in a particular manner, but that is not what it is. Quad, if you look at what we do, the Quad activities are always, you know, informed. All our documents are publicly available, and if you look at the kind of documents we are bringing out, we are enlarging the scope of the developmental agenda.

Critical minerals is of a huge importance today all across the world, and Indo-Pacific partners are asking us as to what can the Quad do? For example, I'll give you a very good example. India is offering scholarships to students in the Indo-Pacific, a four-year engineering program in some of the best national engineering colleges in India. And today we have about what... 14 students from the Indo-Pacific from 11 different countries who are pursuing an engineering program in India. So, this is the kind of projects Quad does. Highly impactful.

Our idea is to focus on how can we enhance the skills, the capabilities of our partners. So, I think the idea is … what we plan to do is we have a very clear focus that the Indo-Pacific is a region that the Quad would like to deliver public goods. This has been articulated many, many times by our Prime Minister as well as by the Foreign Minister. So that would be our focus and we will take it forward.

Siddhant, WION: Hi sir, Siddhant from WION. What is the big message from the Quad Foreign Ministers' meeting in terms of its future? Because at a time, this time, it's believed that either the Quad is dead or there is a change in the American position. They're going, I mean, not very strongly because of the recent visit of Trump to Beijing.

Madhurendra, News Nation: Sir, Madhurendra main News Nation se. Chunki Quad ke forum par terrorism ki baat hui aur jo joint declaration hai usme Pahalgam aatanki hamle ki baat bhi hai. Kya Quad desh jo hain koi anti-terror exercise ko lekar formation kar rahe hain? Aur kya is baat-cheet mein Pakistan ko lekar kuch khaas ingit karte hue charcha hui? Kyuki Operation Sindoor ke baad bhi hum dekh rahe hain ki Pakistan ki zameen par Bharat ke khilaaf aatanki jo istemaal hai wo lagataar jaari hai.

Aur doosra sawaal humara hai Quad ko lekar jab hum baat karte hain to baar-baar ye zikr aata hai free and fair Indo-Pacific ka, maritime rules ka. Lekin zahir taur par agar Indo-Pacific mein dekhein to hegemony jis tarah ki China ki hai to kya usko lekar koi discussion hua?

[Approximate Translation: Question In Hindi] Sir, I am Madhurendra from News Nation. Since terrorism was discussed at the Quad forum, and the joint declaration also mentions the Pahalgam terror attack, are the Quad countries planning to form any kind of anti-terror exercise mechanism? Also, during these discussions, was there any specific indication or discussion regarding Pakistan? Because even after Operation Sindoor, we are seeing that the use of terrorism against India from Pakistani soil is continuing consistently.

And my second question is regarding the Quad. Whenever we talk about the Quad, there is repeated mention of a free and fair Indo-Pacific and maritime rules. But clearly, if we look at the Indo-Pacific region, there is a kind of hegemony by China. Was there any discussion regarding that?

Brahma Prakash Dubey, Zee New: Sir, Brahma Prakash Dubey Zee News se. Mera sawaal hai ki jo bhi issue discuss hue hain is forum pe, kya Quad ke vistaar ko lekar bhi koi charcha hui hai? Khaastaur se Indo-Pacific kshetra ke jo countries hain unme se kisi ki taraf se prastaav bhi kya aaya hai ya maang ki gayi hai ki iske vistaar mein shaamil hone ki? To aisi koi charcha hui hai kya Quad mein? Thank you.

[Approximate Translation: Question In Hindi] Sir, Brahma Prakash Dubey from Zee News. My question is: among all the issues discussed at this forum, was there also any discussion regarding the expansion of the Quad? Particularly, have any countries from the Indo-Pacific region made a proposal or expressed a desire to be included in its expansion? Was there any such discussion within the Quad? Thank you.

Kallol, The Hindu: Sir, Kallol from The Hindu. Sir, in the joint statement you have referred to rule of law. But I want to ask you, when we look at the actions by the United States in the recent past, do you think that fits in well with that? Especially the attack on Iran, that's what I'm referring to.

Sidhanth, CNN-News18: Hi sir, I'm Sidhanth from CNN-News18. Sir, just want some clarity on... who is actually a chair of Quad this year or next year? Because there are multiple reports doing the round that India will pass on the baton to Australia. We were supposed to host the Summit in 2024, but then Summit took place in United States. Then last year we were supposed to host, could not happen. This year... so are we... are we carrying forward the pending chairmanship of Quad? Or what's... just give some clarity on this. Thank you.

Shri Nagaraj Naidu, Additional Secretary: I think there was a question by Sidhanth on what is the focus of the Quad, whether the US is interested or engaged in it. I think you should … I just had kind of indicated earlier today, I think the United States is very engaged, continues to remain engaged in the Quad. You saw that in Secretary Rubio's statement and also acknowledged by the Australian Foreign Minister in her articulation of the amount of importance that the US is paying to the Quad. And I would encourage you also to look at the US focus on the Indo-Pacific through their new national security strategy and their national defense strategy which would also kind of indicate to you their focus on this region and on the Quad.

And as I said, in 18 months this is the third meeting. So, the Quad Foreign Ministers remain deeply engaged, and these are three of those meetings where they have come together as a group. But also please don't forget that the Quad Foreign Ministers meet on multiple occasions at other plurilateral platforms which keep happening from time to time. So I think the focus remains as we always keep saying that the Quad is here to stay, and the Quad will continue to keep going strong.

We do not see that our work has kind of come down. It is only increased. We've been adding layers of initiatives to what we keep doing in the Quad domain, and our partners are very happy with the kind of work we are doing and delivering.

One of I think colleague had asked about whether any country would like to join. As of now, the Quad continues to remain a grouping of four members, but we are delivering for all of the Indo-Pacific. So I think wherever we see there is a potential for collaboration in specific areas, I don't think the Quad is averse to working with other partners.

There was a question on counter-terrorism and whether there is any exercises. I would encourage you to please look at the Quad fact sheet that we have released. If you look at the serial number four of the fact sheet, it very clearly says that last year India had hosted two Quad workshops on counter-terrorism which is focused on countering the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, drones for terrorist purposes, and preventing terrorist exploitation of new and emerging technologies.

And Quad partners will hold Quad counter-terrorism tabletop exercises which will be focused on state-sponsored terrorism threats and uncrewed aerial vehicles. So this is going to take place in Australia next month, in the month of June. So Quad is heavily focused on CT because this is an area that I think all Quad partners continue to remain engaged. Terrorism is changing, the nature of terrorism is transforming, the kind of instrumentalities that terrorist organizations are deploying are also changing.

So, this requires that all Quad partners join hands together, as you have seen last time after the Pahalgam attack, the Quad partners came together in July when we met, a very strong statement was released by the Quad on the Pahalgam attacks. At the same time, we worked very closely with the United States, which resulted in the UN monitoring report actually publishing, mentioning the terrorist-the Resistance Front … the TRF had got mentioned in the UN monitoring committee report under the 1267 sanctions committee. At the same time, the State Department also has declared the TRF to be a foreign terrorist organization. So, I think Quad is a very valuable platform for our CT discussions, and the CT working group is a very vibrant group that does a lot of activities, a lot of table-top exercises between the law enforcement agencies between all the four Quad countries.

I think one question on who is actually chairing the Quad. See, this question keeps coming not necessarily from Quad partners. This is from others who want to keep questioning the Quad. All I would like to assure you is that the Quad is a very nimble organization. We don't have a formal secretariat, but that gives us the flexibility to do a lot of things.

So, currently, India continues to be the chair of the Quad. We were to suppose, as I said earlier today, we were supposed to be hosting the summit, but it so happened that there was an opportunity that had come up and the US wanted to host it in Delaware, and since it was also that President Biden was demitting office, so it was felt that you know, it would be an opportune time for the US to host it.

So, but I would rest assure you that currently, India continues to remain the chair. We've just hosted the Foreign Ministers' meeting. Definitely, the next Foreign Ministers' meeting will be held elsewhere, and most of these decisions are taken by the Foreign Ministers, and whenever such a decision is taken as to the date and the venue, we will be the first to communicate that to you.

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Rule of law.

Shri Nagaraj Naidu, Additional Secretary: Ah. See, the question of rule-rule of law did kind of not necessarily come up as a topic of discussion, but this is something that the Quad partners believe in, and there hasn't been a Quad statement without a mention of the rule of law. And whether our particular party-our colleagues in the Quad articulate it in their interventions, yes, they did. They did mention the idea of rule of law. Whether we questioned somebody's interpretation of the rule of law, no, we didn't. But at the same time, it didn't necessarily come up in the context in which you have actually put it. Thank you.

Pushpita, New Indian Express: Hi sir, this is Pushpita from New Indian Express. So, sir under the commitment of 20 billion for the Quad critical mineral framework, if you could give us some idea how much of the financing is supposed to come from India and if we have any specific private players who could be a part of it, and have we set any particular timeline for this commitment of 20 billion Quad framework?

Neeraj Dubey, Prabhasakshi: Sir, namaskar, main Neeraj Dubey Prabhasakshi se sir. Sir Quad ke jo alochak hain wo kehte hain ki is manch se ghoshnayein jyada hoti hain parinaam nahi nikalte. Toh Videsh Mantriyon ki baithak mein kya Quad ki kuch uplabdhiyon par charcha hui, us par santosh bhi jataya gaya, aisi kaunsi uplabdhiyaan rahi sir?

[Approximate Translation: Question In Hindi] Sir, greetings. I am Neeraj Dubey from Prabhasakshi. Sir, critics of the Quad say that this platform makes more announcements than it delivers results. So, during the Foreign Ministers' meeting, was there any discussion about some of the Quad's achievements, and was satisfaction expressed over them? What have been the key achievements, sir?

Abhimanyu Sharma, CNBC TV18: Sir, Abhimanyu Sharma from CNBC TV18. Sir, there are news reports which are indicating that the future Quad leaders summits would be held on the sidelines of major multilateral gatherings instead of a standalone annual event. Is that correct?

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: I think on that he already spoke.

Rishabh: Good evening Secretary, this is Rishabh. Sir, just wanted to understand, generally, we have seen there have been question and answers after the remarks at the Quad Summits or the Foreign Ministers' meet. Today we did not see. So, why was this exception made today?

Shri Nagaraj Naidu, Additional Secretary: Thank you. I think see, the 20 billion that you see is something that Quad partners felt comfortable with, kind of looking at what each Quad partner was actually doing in that particular domain. Operationalizing this will happen in the next meeting. This particular agreement that you see, which we should thank our the Ministry of Mines, the team there was very, very active in the negotiations, and we look forward to their next working-level group meeting which will kind of lay down as to the kind of activities that we could look at, particularly in the domain of critical minerals. As a matter of fact, a lot of activity is already happening, we just need to kind of put it all together and take it forward.

I think the achievement, see the fact sheet itself showcases what the Quad is delivering. So, I don't know beyond that if … I would encourage you to always look at the Quad fact sheets. There is a joint statement and there is a fact sheet. The fact sheet gives you a very clear articulation of what the Quad is delivering. And as a matter of fact, the Quad Foreign Ministers are extremely happy when they meet because it is very easy to gauge the progress.

For example, currently, we are in the process-India is in the process as part of the overall Quad efforts in delivering HPV sampling kits for cancer all across the Indo-Pacific. So, this is an exercise we're already doing.

So, that's what I keep saying, please look at some of our joint fact sheets, they're extremely good information that is put out there as to the kind of work Quad is actually … because we keep saying that the Quad is here to deliver public goods, and that is what we are doing. And this year, you will actually see three to four off-grid solar projects that we are going to kind of build all across East Africa and even including in Fiji, so in Comoros, Madagascar.

So, all of this is happening. Maybe we will have to maybe … I'll ask, encourage if we can bring out more infographics on the kind of work that the Quad does in delivering these projects.

On the issue of Q&A, look, I think we should thank AS(XP) for putting up a huge hangar outside there wherein … I think if you had seen … I think the last time there was a Q&A for the Quad Foreign Ministers, it was in 2023 in Melbourne. Since then, I think in 2024 when Japan hosted it in Tokyo, there wasn't a Q&A session. Similarly, there hasn't been a Q&A session the last two times in Washington DC. So, I think I don't know if…

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: This was the preference of the Ministers that we have just press statements, and naturally being the host, we deferred to their choice, their preference. As Nagaraj said, this is also in line with the recent practice in Quad.

So, if we don't have any more questions then we thank all of you for your participation. Thank you very much.

New Delhi
May 26, 2026