India offers Black Sea ideas, Rubio eyes Quad steps
Atlanta, Oct 31
India has offered ideas to help keep Black Sea shipments moving, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, as Washington explores ways to ease the war's impact on food supplies and seeks concrete steps from the next Quad leaders' meeting.
Speaking at the conclusion of the G20 foreign ministers' meeting in Atlanta, Rubio identified India and Turkey as countries contributing ideas on shipping. He cautioned, however, that international interest should not be mistaken for progress towards an agreement.
The discussions concern efforts to protect the movement of agricultural and other cargo amid the Russia-Ukraine war. Rubio said disruptions were hurting vulnerable countries, with African nations paying a particularly high price.
He said India had expressed interest in putting forward ideas. He did not outline those suggestions or announce an agreement.
"We'd like to see it happen. It doesn't solve a war problem, but at least it diminishes some of the impact, spillover impact that it's having on the food security of vulnerable countries."
Rubio declined to assess the chances of a limited ceasefire covering shipping. Washington remained open to proposals, he said, while continuing its broader effort to seek a negotiated end to the war.
Responding to a question from IANS about India's role and the Quad's next steps, Rubio said the grouping needed to turn its discussions into practical cooperation.
He pointed to infrastructure, disaster response and maritime awareness as areas where the four countries could work together. A proposed business forum would bring companies together to identify commercial opportunities.
"We wanna continue to build on that, and we are hoping to put together a business forum so that the businesses of the four countries can meet and identify unique opportunities to work together."
Rubio said humanitarian relief and disaster response offered scope for concrete action. The aim was to combine resources and deliver assistance quickly when countries in the region faced typhoons, earthquakes, mudslides or other emergencies.
Maritime cooperation would also seek a clearer understanding of activity both on the surface and underwater, including threats to freedom of navigation.
"The best way to make a forum useful and important is to make sure that it does something, not just talks about it, but does it."
Rubio said he hoped Quad leaders would meet in Manila in November and announce further steps. He presented the gathering as an expected development, with an announcement anticipated.
Asked whether the Quad's concerns about economic coercion and export restrictions were directed at China, Rubio rejected the description of the grouping as a coalition against a particular country.
"Now, those activities or behaviours are coming repetitively from one country, that's gonna be obvious to everybody, but it is not an anti-China or anti-anybody coalition."
On the wider G20 discussions, Rubio said participants recognised shared challenges involving food security, critical minerals, supply chains and freedom of navigation. Agreement on the problems did not mean agreement on their causes or solutions, he cautioned.
He said President Donald Trump wanted the G20 to concentrate on its economic purpose. The Atlanta discussions would feed into preparations for the leaders' summit in Florida in December, with energy access and secure supply chains among the priorities.
The Quad brings together India, the United States, Japan and Australia. Its cooperation spans maritime security, infrastructure, technology and humanitarian assistance in the Indo-Pacific.
The G20 began in 1999 as a forum for finance ministers and central bank governors. It expanded to leaders' summits during the 2008 global financial crisis and serves as a major forum for international economic cooperation.
— IANS
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