By Reena Bhardwaj

Washington DC [US], June 27 (ANI): Secretary of State Marco Rubio will host the Foreign Ministers from the QUAD countries on July 1 in Washington DC for the QUAD Foreign Ministers Meeting, the Principal Deputy Spokesperson for US Department of State Tommy Pigott announced on Thursday (US local time).

Making the remarks during a press briefing, Pigott said, 'Next week, Secretary Rubio will host foreign Ministers from Australia, India and Japan for the 2025 Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting on July 1 in Washington, DC. The secretary's first diplomatic engagement was with the Quad, and next week's summit builds on that momentum to advance a free, open, and secure Indo-Pacific. This is what American leadership looks like: strength, peace and prosperity'.

Dhruva Jaishankar at ORF Washington DC, spoke to ANI about the expectations and impressions on the American priorities for the QUAD Summit.

'US relations with its Quad partners have been complicated of late, given differences with Japan over defense spending, Australia over AUKUS, and India over Pakistan. For these reasons, even maintaining the Quad agenda going forward is difficult, despite the US concentrating the groups's focus on security, prosperity, tech, and homeland security,' he said.

The developments follow after, earlier on June 18, when US President Donald Trump accepted Prime Minister Narendra Modi's invitation to attend the QUAD Summit, which will take place in New Delhi later this year, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri had previously informed. The telephonic conversation with US President Donald Trump took place on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Canada.

'For the next meeting of QUAD, PM Modi invited President Trump to India. While accepting the invitation, President Trump said that he is excited to come to India', Misri had said in a video message.

The QUAD is a diplomatic partnership between Australia, India, Japan, and the United States committed to supporting an open, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific that is inclusive and resilient. The QUAD's origins date back to our collaboration in response to the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

Earlier in January, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on his first day in office, hosted the Foreign Ministers of Australia, India, and Japan for a significant meeting of the QUAD alliance.

'On day one as Secretary of State, I hosted the Foreign Ministers of Australia, India, and Japan for an important meeting of the Quad. We are committed to strengthening economic opportunity and peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region,' Rubio posted on X. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held the meeting with his Quad counterparts--External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Japan's Takeshi Iwaya, and Australia's Penny Wong--at the US Department of State.

In a joint statement, the Foreign ministers of QUAD countries reaffirmed their shared commitment to strengthening a free and open Indo-Pacific where 'sovereignty and territorial integrity are upheld and defended.' The Quad nations also expressed strong opposition 'to any unilateral actions aimed at changing the status quo through force or coercion.' (ANI)