Australia-India-Japan-US Quad urged to address 'connectivity choke points'

At the beginning of the Quad meeting on Tuesday, Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said Australia, India, Japan and the U.S. need to address "connectivity choke points" and resource concentration.



"We have to address issues like supply chain resilience, connectivity choke points, manufacturing and resource concentration and gaps in critical infrastructure," he said.



The meeting between the countries' top diplomats - Australia's Penny Wong, India's Jaishankar, Japan's Toshimitsu Motegi and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio - is the third such gathering since September 2024.



The meeting is expected to last less than an hour and will be followed by statements from the four countries' diplomats.



The Quad meeting comes as the U.S. and Iran have circled around a possible deal to end their three-month conflict and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.



The countries share concerns about China's growing power and Rubio - who arrived in India on Saturday for a four-day visit aimed at shoring up relations withNew Delhi - has stressed the importance of maintaining a "free and open Indo-Pacific."