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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has formally announced that the next Quad Leaders Summit will be held in Manila, the Philippines, next month, bringing together the leaders of India, the United States, Japan and Australia at a crucial moment for the Indo-Pacific theatre.
Commenting on the proposed gathering, Rubio stated, We'll be announcing very soon, if we haven't already, that we'll be holding a Quad Leaders' Meeting in Manila next month. This announcement comes against the backdrop of heightened diplomatic engagement among the four Quad members, with the anticipated summit scheduled to take place on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meetings throughout November. The development follows a high-level diplomatic meeting in Georgia on October 31, where Rubio met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi. The Atlanta meeting constituted the third gathering of the alliance's foreign ministers this year, following earlier meetings in New Delhi in May and Manila in July. During these consultations, the delegates discussed expanding multilateral collaboration across strategic areas, including resilient supply chains, emerging technologies, maritime security and critical minerals infrastructure. The proposed Manila summit carries strategic significance, as it will mark the first meeting at the leaders' level since the last summit was convened by former US President Joe Biden in Wilmington, Delaware, in September 2024. Consequently, the upcoming gathering is being viewed as an opportunity to renew political momentum at the highest levels within the four-country grouping. (ANI)
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