Jaishankar to meet Quad counterparts in Manila alongside ASEAN talks
India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is due to visit Manila on 22-23 July for a series of ASEAN-related meetings, including the Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting. The talks are being held under the ASEAN framework and will also include the ASEAN-India meeting, the East Asia Summit and the ASEAN Regional Forum. The visit comes as the Philippines holds the ASEAN chairship for 2026.
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According to India's foreign ministry, the trip underlines India's deepening engagement with ASEAN under its Act East Policy and its commitment to strengthening the ASEAN-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. The ministry also said 2026 has been designated the ASEAN-India Year of Maritime Cooperation. On the margins of the regional meetings, Jaishankar is expected to meet his counterparts from Australia, Japan and the United States in the Quad format, and to hold bilateral meetings with ministers from participating countries.
The Manila meeting follows a Quad foreign ministers' gathering in May, when the four countries agreed to launch the Indo-Pacific Maritime Surveillance Corporation to expand maritime domain awareness and improve port infrastructure in Fiji. They also agreed to launch the Indo-Pacific Energy Security initiative, aimed at regional energy resilience, and to move ahead with practical cooperation under the Quad Critical Minerals Initiative to strengthen supply chains. Those steps show the grouping's focus on maritime security, energy and strategic resources in the Indo-Pacific.
The agenda matters because the Quad has become one of the main diplomatic vehicles for coordination among India, the United States, Japan and Australia on regional security and economic resilience. The ASEAN meetings provide a wider platform for those discussions, linking the Quad's priorities with Southeast Asian diplomacy. They also come at a time when officials are still weighing the timing and location of a possible Quad leaders' summit later this year.
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The Quad foreign ministers were originally expected to meet in Australia, but the May meeting was instead held in Delhi, reflecting the grouping's flexible format. The joint statement at that time said the ministers looked forward to a future leaders' summit and continued engagement to advance peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. That broader context gives added weight to the Manila talks, where ministers are likely to review how far the new initiatives can be taken forward.
What remains unclear is whether the Manila meetings will produce any new announcements on the leaders' summit or on the practical rollout of the maritime, energy and minerals initiatives. It is also not yet clear what bilateral meetings Jaishankar will hold on the sidelines. The outcome of the talks will be watched for signs of continuity in Quad cooperation and for any indication of how ASEAN partners are being brought into those efforts.
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