WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the foreign ministers of Australia, India and Japan pledged more than $85 million to expand access to trusted artificial intelligence in the Indo-Pacific and voiced “grave concerns” about economic coercion and arbitrary export restrictions, in a joint statement issued after they met Saturday in Atlanta.
Rubio, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi met on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, which the United States hosted this week. Rubio told reporters afterward that the group had moved “from a place where we just meet and talk about problems to a place where we identify areas to work together on, and are actually being able to act on that,” according to a State Department transcript.
Asked by a Reuters reporter whether the statement’s language on coercion and export restrictions was aimed at China, which it does not name, Rubio said: “The Quad is not an anti-anybody. It’s not a format that exists to be against any country.” He added that the group’s concerns are “about behaviors,” and that while “those activities or behaviors are coming repetitively from one country,” the Quad “is not an anti-China or anti-anybody coalition.”
Rubio also said he expected a Quad leaders’ meeting “in Manila” next month. “Hopefully when our leaders meet in November, they will be able to announce some more concrete steps,” he said.
What the ministers agreed
The statement covers economic security, maritime security, technology and disaster response. Among the commitments:
- More than $85 million in “technical and financial assistance to support access to trusted SI across the Indo-Pacific,” including through a Quad SI Accelerator. The statement uses the U.S. administration’s term “Super Intelligence”; a footnote says that in Australia, India and Japan the term “refers to ‘artificial intelligence.’”
- A U.S. commitment of $10 million for facilities in India and Southeast Asia that recover critical minerals from electronic waste and scrap, under a Quad critical minerals framework announced in May.
- The first Quad Business Leaders’ Forum, and a meeting of the four countries’ export credit agencies in Tokyo on Nov. 18.
- Work with Fiji on modernizing ports at Suva, Lautoka and Rokobili, including through the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation.
- A new effort to identify “semiconductor and SI supply chain chokepoints before they cause disruptions.”
- A first maritime surveillance exercise at Sea Dragon 2027 and a maritime domain awareness symposium in early 2027.
The ministers also condemned criminal groups running online scam operations, which they said were “stealing tens of billions of dollars annually,” and committed to “dismantling these operations.”
Shipping lanes
The ministers said they “reiterated the absolute necessity to protect and preserve navigational rights and freedoms in the Strait of Hormuz, the Red Sea, and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait,” including passage “without the imposition of tolls.”
Rubio made freedom of navigation the centerpiece of his remarks. “We now live in a world where the Iranian regime actively and openly targets commercial vessels for attack,” he said, adding that U.S. Central Command had “done a phenomenal job of protecting this shipping.” He also cited “hostile coercion” in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.
The G20 chair’s statement, issued by Rubio as host, summarizes the broader meeting’s discussions of energy, technology and supply chains.
Maritime and disaster cooperation
The statement said a second Quad-at-Sea ship observer mission sailed from Chennai, India, to Perth, Australia, from Sept. 25 to Oct. 7 aboard an Indian Coast Guard patrol vessel with representatives of all four countries. Australia, Japan and the United States will send observers to India’s annual joint humanitarian assistance and disaster relief exercise, AJHE-26, this month.
The ministers also offered condolences for victims of the Aug. 26 flash floods in Nepal and credited India’s “leading role as the first responder.”
Rubio said this year’s Quad meetings numbered “four or five,” and noted that a Quad meeting was his first as secretary of state in January 2025.
Requests for comment
The Inquisitor asked analysts at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Hudson Institute and the Stimson Center to assess the commitments. None had responded by publication; this story will be updated with any responses.
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