The first Quad ministerial meeting of Australia, India, Japan and the US since President Donald Trump took office was held on Tuesday.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong met her Indian and Japanese counterparts in Washington and said the invitation for Quad foreign ministers to attend President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration showed an "iron-clad commitment" to close cooperation in the Indo Pacific region.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong met with other members of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue in Washington, including US Security of State Marco Rubio.

United States (US) Secretary of State Marco Rubio pledged on Tuesday to strengthen the Quad alliance, reaffirming a commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific just hours after being sworn in as Washington’s top diplomat.

By David Brunnstrom, Simon Lewis and Alasdair Pal WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States, Australia, India and Japan recommitted to working together on Tuesday, after the first meeting of the China-focused "Quad" grouping's top diplomats since President Donald Trump returned to the White House.

On his first full day as secretary of state, Marco Rubio is meeting with his counterparts from a group of countries known as the Quad: the United States plus India, Japan and Australia, representing nearly 2 billion people and more than a third of global GDP.

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.

The first major diplomatic event of the second presidency of Donald Trump took place Tuesday, a day after his inauguration, brin

This meeting came after the inauguration of Donald Trump as president and was the first under his second term as President of the United States.

Analysts have said the meeting is designed to signal that countering Beijing is a top priority for Mr Trump. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Foreign ministers from Quad countries — India, Australia, Japan and the United States– in a joint statement reaffirmed their shared commitment to strengthening a free and open Indo-Pacific where “sovereignty and territorial integrity are upheld and defended.

Speaking after the meeting in the US, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar highlighted the significance of the Quad in ensuring a free, open, and stable Indo-Pacific