Washington: Donald Trump is likely to organise a hold a meeting of foreign ministers from the Quad bloc just a day after his inauguration as the US President on January 20 in Washington DC with India being represented by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
The meeting reflects the upcoming Trump administration’s inclination to strengthen ties with India and other regional allies in the wake of heightened Chinese expansion activities in the Indo-Pacific.
Quad meeting in US on January 21
The upcoming meeting of the Quad foreign ministers—representing the US, Japan, Australia, and India—could be the first under the Trump 2.0 administration and is expected to take place on January 21.
Randhir Jaiswal, the official spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, stated that the four ministers are anticipated to attend the inauguration.
Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, and India’s S Jaishankar will have an opportunity to meet US Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio on the sidelines of the event.
Trump administration’s stance on China
Rubio, known for his firm stance on China, introduced a bill in July last year proposing that India be treated similarly to allies such as Japan, Israel, South Korea, and NATO partners regarding technology transfers.
However, notably, in the recently released regulatory framework for AI software exports by the Biden administration, India is not included in the top-tier category of 18 US allies that face no restrictions. Instead, India is placed in Tier 2 alongside the majority, which will encounter limits on the amount of computing power they can import from US firms unless hosted in trusted environments.
