Japan, Australia, India and the United States looked to dispel fears of a more isolationist Washington under new President Donald Trump, with the top diplomats of the “Quad” grouping reaffirming Tuesday a commitment to work together.
Coming just a day after Trump’s return to the White House, the meeting was seen as a veiled warning to Beijing, which has lambasted the Quad as a tool for containing China.
In a joint statement released after the talks, which were hosted by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington on his first day in the post, the four nations pledged to meet regularly to prepare for a leaders' summit in India that is expected later this year.
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