Washington, DC [US], July 2 (ANI): The Foreign Ministers of India, the US, Japan, and Australia have announced the launch of the Quad Critical Minerals Initiative. The new flagship initiative will enable four nations to bring economic opportunity and prosperity to their people and the region, according to the factsheet released by the Office of the US State Department spokesperson following the Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting (QFMM).

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Japan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Takeshi Iwaya, and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong met in Washington, DC, on July 1 for the 10th Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting.

They welcomed recent and upcoming activities conducted by their four countries, as well as those in cooperation with partners, to advance a free and open Indo-Pacific. The four leaders announced key initiatives to strengthen maritime and transnational security, economic prosperity, security, critical and emerging technology, and support humanitarian assistance and emergency response across the region.

The factsheet released by the Office of the US State Department spokesperson following the Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting (QFMM) stated, 'Today, Quad Foreign Ministers are proud to announce the launch of the Quad Critical Minerals Initiative, an ambitious expansion of our partnership to strengthen economic security and collective resilience by collaborating on securing and diversifying critical mineral supply chains.'

'This new flagship initiative, alongside the high-impact programs and outcomes the Quad is realizing, will enable our four countries to bring economic opportunity and prosperity to our people and the region,' it added.

The Quad is expanding maritime law enforcement cooperation with the region, which will support efforts to curb illicit maritime activity, including piracy, drug trafficking, border security infringements, and illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

The factsheet reads, 'This month, we launched the first-ever Quad-at-Sea Ship Observer Mission, which strengthens our interoperability and knowledge-sharing to best address unlawful maritime activities across the region. Quad partners have embarked as observers on a U.S. Coast Guard Cutter that has departed Palau and will disembark in Guam this week.'

The leaders announced that the Quad will hold its second maritime legal dialogue later this month to advance efforts to uphold maritime order.

The factsheet stated, 'We continue to implement the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA), including the increased provision of space-based collection and sharing of radio frequency data, analytical training, and capacity building. We intend to geographically expand IPMDA across the Indian Ocean region and continue to explore developing an IPMDA common operating picture.'

The Quad Foreign Ministers expressed their intention to hold the first Maritime Initiative for Training in the Indo-Pacific (MAITRI) workshop in 2025, which aims to assess the capability gaps in the region and enhance maritime capabilities in consultation with regional partners.

They expressed commitment to ensuring a free and open region and promoting the prosperity of the citizens of the four nations and all people in the Indo-Pacific region. The leaders stated that they aim to strengthen energy security across the Indo-Pacific and promote resilient supply chains and quality infrastructure projects that are transparent and secure.

The factsheet released following the Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting stated, 'The Quad Critical Minerals Initiative will strengthen cooperation on priorities such as securing and diversifying reliable supply chains, and electronic waste (e-waste) critical minerals recovery and re-processing. The Initiative will expand the Quad's cooperation on supply chain resilience measures for critical minerals, and we look forward to coordinating with private sector partners to facilitate increased investments.'

The four leaders announced that they will launch the Quad Ports of the Future Partnership by hosting a transportation and logistics conference with Indo-Pacific partners in Mumbai in October 2025.

The conference aims to increase knowledge, facilitate dialogue, and exchange experiences on advanced port and logistics practices, and mobilise government and private sector investments in quality port infrastructure development, according to the factsheet.

This will complement the work Quad partners have done to boost infrastructure expertise across the Indo-Pacific region through the Quad Infrastructure Fellowships Program. The Foreign Ministers of the Quad nations stated that they will continue to advance the Quad Partnership in areas of cable connectivity and Resilience.

This year, the US and India will host an undersea cables forum with participation from Quad partners to identify opportunities for digital infrastructure collaboration. This forum will encourage regulatory harmonisation, which supports more efficient access by Quad partner companies to identify opportunities for digital infrastructure collaboration. (ANI)