New Delhi [India], May 26 (ANI): The Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday asserted that the Quad remains strong and continues to expand its engagement, dismissing speculation over a shift in the United States' position on the grouping.

Addressing a special briefing following the Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting here, MEA Additional Secretary Nagaraj Naidu said that 'The United States is very engaged and continues to remain engaged in the Quad', in response to the Quad being weakened over speculative changes in the American position over the grouping.

He added that Washington's focus on the Indo-Pacific is also reflected in its strategic policy documents.

'I would encourage you also to look at the US focus on the Indo-Pacific through their new National Security Strategy and their National Defence Strategy, which would also kind of indicate to you their focus on this region and on the Quad,' Naidu said.

The US, in its National Security Strategy, released in November, backed stronger Indo-Pacific alliances and Quad cooperation, highlighting the importance of deepening commercial and strategic ties with India, particularly in the context of regional security.

'We must continue to improve commercial (and other) relations with India to encourage New Delhi to contribute to Indo-Pacific security, including through continued quadrilateral cooperation with Australia, Japan, and the United States ('the Quad'),' the document read.

Highlighting the frequency of engagements, Naidu noted that Quad Foreign Ministers have met three times within 18 months, along with several interactions on the sidelines of multilateral forums.

'Even Secretary Rubio in his intervention had mentioned that less than 24 hours since he was confirmed as the Secretary of State, he had hosted the Quad foreign ministers in Washington DC on the 21st of January in 2025. So that was the first occasion, it was his first meeting with the Quad foreign ministers. This was soon followed up by a second Quad foreign ministers' meeting in July. And this is the third occasion that the foreign ministers are meeting. Thisactually talks about how active the Quad is,' the MEA official said.

He further said that cooperation within the grouping has only expanded over time, with new initiatives being added across domains.

'The Quad is here to stay, and the Quad will continue to keep going strong. We do not see that our work has kind of come down; it has only increased. We've been adding layers of initiatives to what we keep doing in the Quad domain, and our partners are very happy with the kind of work we are doing and delivering,' Naidu stated.

The MEA official said that as far as when and where the next Summit will be hosted, it will be a decision taken by the diplomats. 'The Quad usually discusses these dates and occasions where it is convenient for the leaders to meet because leaders' schedules always are very, very difficult to pin down today. There have been in the past, occasions wherein, for example, the summit had taken place in Delaware in 2024. It was actually supposed to be hosted by India butthen as a gesture to President (Joe Biden) who was leaving the White House, it wasdecided that perhaps it could be done in Delaware. So we leave it to our seniors, our foreign ministers, they are in touch with each other.'

The Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting was hosted by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar at Hyderabad House in the national capital and attended by the Foreign Minister of Australia, Penny Wong and the Foreign Minister of Japan, Toshimitsu Motegi, along with the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. (ANI)