US, India, Japan, Australia Meet
Quad Sherpas gather in Delhi to set stage for Leaders' Summit amidst surge in India-US diplomatic engagements through December
A high-level Quad Sherpa meeting is being held in New Delhi on Thursday, hosted by Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri. The meeting will bring together designated Quad Sherpas from the United States, Australia, and Japan to discuss strategy across the Indo-Pacific.
The meeting is expected to be attended by US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor and Bethany Poulos Morrison, Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs. The Quad comprises India, the United States, Japan, and Australia, and has increasingly emerged as an important platform for coordinating strategy across the Indo-Pacific.
The Delhi meeting will help prepare the ground for the next Quad Leaders’ Summit, whose dates have not yet been announced. Sherpa-level discussions play a critical role in determining the agenda, negotiating potential outcomes, and ensuring that commitments made by the four governments can eventually reach the leaders’ level.
## Why it matters The Quad meeting comes at the beginning of what could become the most important quarter for India-US relations in the last two years. The United States views the Quad as an important mechanism for strengthening coordination among major democracies in the region on issues ranging from maritime security and resilient supply chains to critical technologies, infrastructure, and regional stability. For India, the Quad provides a platform to strengthen its role in the Indo-Pacific while allowing New Delhi to cooperate with Washington, Tokyo, and Canberra.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to visit India in October, marking one of the several consequential engagements between India and the US through December, including the G20 Leaders’ Summit. The intensifying diplomatic calendar between India and the US highlights the growing importance of the relationship between the two countries.
The Quad Sherpa meeting in Delhi is a significant step in preparing for the next Quad Leaders' Summit and sets the stage for a busy diplomatic calendar between India and the US in the coming months.
