Quad Leaders to Meet in Manila Next Month

The leaders of India, Australia, Japan and the United States are expected to meet in Manila this November on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit.

Summit Significance

This upcoming gathering marks the first summit-level meeting of Quad leaders since Donald Trump started his second term as U.S. President. It is also the first such summit for Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi since she took office. The previous Quad Leaders' Summit took place in Wilmington in 2024 when Joe Biden and Fumio Kishida held office.

Strategic Shifts

India was originally expected to host the next summit, but the group faced strategic turbulence in 2025 due to shifting U.S. priorities and changing bilateral ties, particularly with India. Despite these challenges, the grouping did not collapse and kept its operational work going through various initiatives.

Maritime Collaboration

The ongoing cooperation was clearly seen when the Quad upgraded its Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness initiative into the Indo-Pacific Maritime Surveillance Collaboration framework in New Delhi in May 2026 after the Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting.

Context

The Quad brings together four major democracies to cooperate on regional security and maritime issues in the Indo-Pacific region. High-level diplomatic meetings like these help coordinate foreign policy and defense strategies among member nations.