New Delhi: The four-nation Quad on Tuesday announced four initiatives, including the first-ever Indo-Pacific maritime surveillance cooperation, expanded cooperation in critical minerals and energy, and unveiled new measures to boost maritime surveillance and port infrastructure across the Indo-Pacific, against the backdrop of China’s growing military posturing in the region.

The measures were announced following a meeting of the Quad foreign ministers here, chaired by external affairs minister S. Jaishankar and attended by US secretary of state Marco Rubio, and the foreign ministers of Australia and Japan, Penny Wong and Toshimitsu Motegi, respectively.

The Quad foreign ministers said in a joint statement that the four initiatives — the Indo-Pacific maritime surveillance cooperation, the critical minerals framework, the fuel and energy security framework, and the ports of the future partnership — were designed to improve teamwork and create real benefits for the region.

The Quad joint statement, in a strong message to China, without naming it, said, “We remain seriously concerned about the situation in the East China Sea and the South China Sea. We reiterate our strong opposition to any destabilising or unilateral actions, including by force or coercion, that threaten peace and stability in the region.”

“We (Qaud) express our serious concerns regarding dangerous and coercive actions, including interference with offshore resource development, the repeated obstruction of freedom of navigation and overflight, and the dangerous manoeuvres by military aircraft and coast guard and maritime militia vessels, especially the unsafe use of water cannons and flares and ramming or blocking actions in the South China Sea. We are seriously concerned by the militarisation of disputed features,” the joint statement further added.

Rejecting China’s apprehensions over the meeting, New Delhi, at a special ministry of external affairs briefing, said “(the Quad’s maritime) surveillance should not be seen as militarisation”.

Amid mounting suspense on when India will host the next Quad Summit, the external affairs ministry said that the Quad foreign ministers are in touch on the (holding of the next) summit. The four ministers said they look forward to the convening of the Quad leaders’ summit and the next Quad foreign ministers’ meeting.

The maritime security initiative, Rubio said, would “leverage each of our countries’ maritime surveillance capabilities in the Indo-Pacific to enhance information sharing.”

“The reason why maritime security is so important, beyond the fact that current events remind us of what can happen when maritime security is impeded, is the fact that 60 per cent of global maritime trade passes through the Indo-Pacific,” the US secretary of state said and thanked India for committing to hosting the next iteration of the Quad at sea mission, which brings together the respective coast guards in one place on one ship.

The Australian foreign minister said, “We will be coordinating our maritime surveillance efforts initially in the Indian Ocean and at (the Indian Navy-hosted) Exercise Malabar through the Indo-Pacific maritime surveillance collaboration initiative. We are also expanding the domain awareness initiative to the Indian Ocean. This will enable partners to access near real-time unclassified satellite tracking data to combat illegal fishing, trafficking and also enable us to better support humanitarian disaster response.”

In his remarks, Jaishankar pointed out that the “maritime domain has seen a steady expansion of collaboration, including surveillance and domain awareness, logistics networks, undersea cables, training, capacity building, and HADR (humanitarian assistance and disaster relief ) activities”.

Jaishankar added that the four ministers “spent some time on the question of safe and unimpeded maritime commerce and reaffirmed the significance of scrupulously observing international law.”

According to the joint statement: “We welcome India’s operationalisation of the Indian Ocean Region programme of the Quad Indo-Pacific partnership for maritime domain awareness (IPMDA)… We will work to develop a common operational picture (COP) across the Indo-Pacific by drawing upon the existing IPMDA efforts…”

On the critical minerals initiative, which is seen to be a response to China’s dominance over the global critical minerals and rare earths trade, the Quad said the critical minerals framework would guide how the group partners “can leverage economic policy tools and coordinate, including in concert with the private sector, investment to strengthen critical minerals supply chains, including in mining, processing, and recycling.”

Pointing out that the “Quad partners intend to mobilise up to $20 billion” for this investment and project development, it said the four nations “intend to support the development of secure critical minerals supply chains, which are essential for advanced technologies, economic growth, and the resilience of our industrial bases”.

On the Quad initiative on Indo-Pacific energy security, the grouping said it will work to identify areas of cooperation for energy security in technology, management, policy, international market analysis, and emergency response exercises through an engagement plan.

“This group effort would aim to recognise and leverage the unique resources and capabilities of each country’s energy sector, including to strengthen their respective strategic petroleum systems. We will work with our partners in the Indo-Pacific to help strengthen regional energy resilience,” the joint statement said, acknowledging that “Quad partners will work together to ensure open, well-functioning and stable energy markets and resilient and diversified supply chains” and that “maintaining open trade flows in essential goods is critical for the security and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region.”

On port infrastructure, the grouping stated, “…The Quad countries will work, in coordination with the Government of Fiji, to advance port infrastructure and associated activities in the country.”

Describing the initiative as “exciting”, Rubio said, “We’re going to be partnering on issues of port infrastructure, in particular in response to insufficient port capacity in the Pacific Islands. But we’re announcing plans to work with Fiji to advance that country’s port infrastructure. It’ll be the first time that the Quad partners work together on a project, on a port infrastructure project. We believe it will be very successful and that it will serve as a model for other projects in the future.”

Emphasising the importance of critical technologies, the grouping said, “Trusted collaboration in critical and emerging technologies underpins our ability to protect security interests, strengthen supply chains, and sustain competitive, strong economies. We reaffirm our commitment to building secure, resilient digital ecosystems and supporting next-generation technologies, including 5G, 6G, and AI.”

“…The Quad welcomes Pax Silica as a pillar of our shared economic security agenda. We recognise that AI represents a transformative force for our long-term prosperity — and reliable supply chains are indispensable to securing its benefits,” the grouping said.

Making it clear that the US continues to invest in the Quad but suggesting more action, Mr Rubio said, “Our goal collectively over the last year has been to turn this from a forum in which we meet and talk about problems to one where we actually do something about it. And I think we can report to our peoples, respectively, that we are beginning to do that pretty aggressively and pretty impressively in the areas of cooperation.”

Highlighting the need for the initiatives announced, the Quad said, “We affirm our support for a free and open Indo-Pacific that allows countries to develop resilience and strengthen capacity to determine their own paths. To that end, we concur on further enhancing cooperation and advancing concrete initiatives to deliver tangible benefits to the region.”

On the ongoing West Asia crisis, the Quad said, “We reiterate the importance of adhering to international law as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) with respect to navigational rights and freedom and the safety and uninterrupted flow of global commerce through the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea. We condemn the attacks on commercial shipping vessels and oppose any future measures that are inconsistent with UNCLOS, including imposition of tolls.”

Condemning terrorism, in a strong message to Pakistan without naming it, the Quad said, “We unequivocally condemn terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including cross-border terrorism and the horrific terrorist attacks perpetrated at Pahalgam in India on April 22, 2025, and Bondi Beach in Australia on December 14, 2025. We call for decisive and sustained international efforts to combat terrorism in accordance with international law, including action against globally proscribed terrorists and terror entities and their proxies, affiliates, sponsors and financiers.”

Taking a tough stand on North Korea, the joint statement read, “We reaffirm our commitment to the complete denuclearisation of North Korea in accordance with relevant UNSCRs and urge North Korea to abide by all its obligations under the relevant UNSCRs…”