The four nations in a joint statement after the talks in Washington emphasised that the officials will prepare for an upcoming leaders' summit, set to be held in India this year.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has met with his counterparts from Australia, India and Japan as the Trump administration kicks off its formal foreign policy engagements in discussions with the Indo-Pacific “Quad.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with his Quad counterparts - India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Japan's Takeshi Iwaya, and Australia's Penny Wong - at the US Department of State here on Tuesday.