Japan’s Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi responded to concerns that the Group of Four was losing its relevance, saying the Quad remained an “important framework” and hinted in an interview that “cooperation on critical minerals” needed for green energy and high technology would be a top priority on the agenda of the Quadrilateral Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (FMM) on Tuesday (25 May 2026). Motegi also said Japan is working on important mineral projects in India, but called for infrastructure improvements, increased tax subsidies and protection of intellectual property rights.
The Quad meeting, hosted by External Affairs Minister Jaishankar and also attended by Motegi, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, is expected to consider the Iran conflict, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and US President Donald Trump’s visit to China this month, as well as setting the agenda for a Quad summit, which has not been held since 2024 amid India-US tensions. Tensions are high on many issues.
Although Quad FM has met twice in 2025 and set a new agenda, there is little or no mention of the Quad group in recent strategy documents issued by the US, Australian and Japanese governments. The U.S. National Security Strategy, released in November 2025, says the U.S. will “encourage New Delhi to contribute to the security of the Indo-Pacific,” including the Quad, but did not go into further detail about the grouping plan. On May 2, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announced Japan’s “Modified Free and Open Indo-Pacific” policy during a visit to Hanoi, in which the Quad is mentioned only once in the context of the Critical Minerals Initiative.
“The Quad remains an important framework among countries that share fundamental values and strategic interests. It has delivered concrete results in a wide range of areas, including maritime security, economic security and cybersecurity,” Motegi said in a written response to questions. hinduism Although it preceded the FMM, questions about why the mechanism was barely mentioned in the strategy document were sidestepped.
He declined to answer specific questions about whether the US had torpedoed Iranian ships. Iris Denna In view of the agenda of ensuring peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, fellow members of the Quad will raise the issue in the Indian Ocean on March 4, 2026. Motegi said the meeting would discuss “regional and global affairs” and send “an unwavering message that the Quad will continue to strongly promote practical cooperation towards the realization of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP).”
Takaichi had also proposed in April, with Jaishankar present virtually, a Partnership for Broad Energy and Resource Resilience (POWERR Asia) to coordinate procurement, financing and storage mechanisms for oil, gas and renewable energy to address the energy crisis as a result of the Iran conflict.
“A disruption in the supply of energy and resources passing through the Strait of Hormuz will affect Asian countries the most, and the impact will extend to all countries that are closely connected through supply chains,” Motegi said. hinduism.
Motegi said at Tuesday’s meeting that he looked forward to “deepening concrete cooperation building on the Critical Minerals Initiative, while sharing a vision for a fair and diverse critical minerals market.”
“With the increasingly difficult international situation we currently face, diversifying sources and ensuring stable supplies of critical minerals has become more important than ever,” Japan’s Foreign Minister explained. The focus on critical minerals points to concerns about China’s dominant position in the rare earths market, where it holds vast reserves, processes about 90% of the minerals, and frequently restricts exports to various countries.
Japan and India also launched another bilateral partnership on critical minerals during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Tokyo in August 2025. Japan has been involved in rare earth refining operations in India since the 2010s, and there is “strong interest” from Japanese companies in the semiconductor sector, Motegi said. However, he said it remains “critical” that the Indian government takes steps to “protect intellectual property rights and trade secrets, increase the scale and scope of subsidies, and improve infrastructure” to advance these business initiatives. Reaffirming Japan’s FOIP plans for infrastructure projects in Bangladesh and northeast India, Motegi said he confirmed with recently elected Bangladesh Prime Minister Tariq Rahman that Japan will continue to work on the development of the Matarbari deep sea port and promote connectivity with northeast India, Bhutan and Nepal.
issued – May 24, 2026 7:27 PM IST
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