By Reena Bhardwaj

Atlanta [US], November 1 (ANI): US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the Quad is not aimed at any country, but acknowledged that the behaviours it raises concerns about are "coming repeatedly from one country".

"The Quad is not anti-anybody. It's not a format that exists to be against any country," he told reporters in Atlanta. "To the extent we express concern about things in the Quad, it's concern about behaviours. It's concern about activities.

"Now, those activities or behaviours are coming repeatedly from one country. That's going to be obvious to everybody. But it is not an anti-China or anti-anybody coalition. The Quad is a cooperative agreement between four countries that share a common interest and common opposition to behaviours, and that's what we'll continue to point to."

Rubio did not name the country he was referring to. The joint statement itself did not name any country either.

He also said a Quad leaders' meeting in Manila would be held in November and announced very soon, but gave no further details.

Foreign ministers from the US, Australia, India and Japan met in Atlanta, Georgia, on Saturday, pledging closer cooperation on supply chains, maritime security and technology.

In their joint statement, the ministers said they would provide more than $85 million in technical and financial assistance to widen access to what they called trusted artificial intelligence across the Indo-Pacific, including through a Quad AI Accelerator.

The statement voiced "grave concerns" about economic coercion, including arbitrary export restrictions, and about overcapacity driven by non-market practices.

The ministers also stressed the need to protect navigation rights in the Strait of Hormuz, the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and criticised the imposition of tolls on shipping. They said such rights must be upheld under international law, as reflected in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The group also singled out online scam operations, which it said cost the four countries tens of billions of dollars a year. The ministers condemned the criminal groups behind them, including those trafficking people and forcing them to defraud others, and pledged to hold the networks and their leaders to account.

On critical minerals, the US committed $10 million to support facilities in India and ASEAN countries that recover minerals from electronic waste, as part of a framework announced in May.

The ministers also announced the first Quad Business Leaders' Forum and said export credit agencies from the four countries would meet in Tokyo on November 18.

Other measures included work with Fiji on modernising ports at Suva, Lautoka and Rokobili, and a new effort to identify chokepoints in semiconductor and AI hardware supply chains. The statement also noted that more than 2,000 infrastructure fellowships had already been provided across the region, and that the first Quad exercise on maritime surveillance was planned for Sea Dragon 2027.

On maritime security, the second Quad-at-Sea Ship Observer mission sailed from Chennai to Perth between September 25 and October 7, with all four countries represented aboard an Indian Coast Guard vessel.

The ministers also offered condolences for the victims of flash floods on August 26 and recognised India's role as a first responder in Nepal. Australia, Japan and the US will send observers to India's disaster-relief exercise in November.

The statement closed by looking ahead to the next Quad Leaders' Summit and the next foreign ministers' meeting, though it gave no dates for either. (ANI)