Quad Continues Cooperation Despite US-India Rift and Summit Absence

The Quad grouping of Australia, Japan, India, and the United States has maintained a steady pace of working-level engagements over the past year, even as a leaders' summit has not been held since September 2024 and tensions between Washington and New Delhi have flared. Despite predictions of its demise, the Quad has held at least one working-level meeting per month under the Trump administration, according to The Diplomat. However, a US strike on an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman that killed three Indian sailors has severely tested bilateral relations, casting doubt on the group's unity Source: SCMP.

Ongoing Cooperation

• Quad countries coordinated humanitarian assistance after the March 2025 Myanmar earthquake and conducted the first collaborative coast guard efforts in June 2025 Source: The Diplomat.
• The Quad Critical Minerals Initiative was launched in July 2025, along with the third Counterterrorism Working Group meeting and the first Field Training Exercise of the Quad Indo-Pacific Logistics Network Source: The Diplomat.
• A Quad Foreign Ministers' meeting in New Delhi in May 2026 produced commitments on port infrastructure in Fiji and new initiatives on critical minerals and maritime surveillance Source: The Diplomat; SCMP.

Underlying Tensions

• The US-India rift, exacerbated by the tanker strike, threatens to slow the Quad's agenda, but analysts note that all four countries recognize the imperative of diversifying supply chains away from China Source: SCMP.
• The Quad has faced criticism for failing to deliver on many announcements, which participants at a Track-1.5 dialogue in Sydney in February 2026 described as a 'gift' to critics and rivals .