Quad Sherpa meet in Delhi today to set stage for this India-US quarter

The Quad Sherpa meeting in Delhi will lay the groundwork for the next leaders' summit and comes amid an intense India-US diplomatic calendar through December.

In Short

• Meeting prepares ground for next Quad Leaders' Summit
• Several high-level India-US engagements planned till December
• PM Modi to attend G20 Summit in US, capping diplomatic sprint

A high-level Quad Sherpa meeting in New Delhi on Thursday will mark the latest sign of an intensifying diplomatic calendar between India and the United States, as New Delhi and Washington prepare for a series of consequential engagements from September through the G20 Leaders’ Summit in December.

Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri will host the meeting, which will bring together designated Quad Sherpas from the United States, Australia and Japan. US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor is also expected to attend, along with Bethany Poulos Morrison, Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs.

The Quad comprises India, the United States, Japan and Australia and has increasingly emerged as an important platform for coordinating strategy across the Indo-Pacific.

The Delhi meeting will help prepare the ground for the next Quad Leaders’ Summit, whose dates have not yet been announced. Sherpa-level discussions play a critical role in determining the agenda, negotiating potential outcomes and ensuring that commitments made by the four governments can eventually reach the leaders’ level.

THE INDO-PACIFIC STAKES

The United States views the Quad as an important mechanism for strengthening coordination among major democracies in the region on issues ranging from maritime security and resilient supply chains to critical technologies, infrastructure and regional stability.

For India, the Quad provides a platform to strengthen its role in the Indo-Pacific while allowing New Delhi to cooperate with Washington, Tokyo and Canberra without turning the grouping into a formal military alliance.

That balancing act has made the Quad increasingly significant as geopolitical competition, tensions in the Indo-Pacific and concerns over supply-chain security reshape global partnerships.

The Sherpa meeting in Delhi also comes ahead of an expected visit by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to India in October. The visit will provide another opportunity for Washington and New Delhi to carry forward discussions on strategic cooperation.

A DIPLOMATIC CALENDAR LIKE FEW OTHERS

The Quad meeting comes at the beginning of what could become the most important quarter for India-US relations in the last two years.

India and the United States already engage at multiple levels, with economic, strategic and diplomatic engagements now packed into the calendar.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has just concluded a major US visit that included meetings and engagements in Chicago, Asheville and New York. Sitharaman led India’s delegation at the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting under the US G20 presidency, while also engaging with investors and business leaders.

Her meeting with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also highlighted continuing India-US cooperation, including discussions on critical minerals and supply chains, areas that have increasingly become central to the strategic economic relationship between the two countries.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal is also expected to travel to the United States later this month for the G20 Trade Ministers’ meetings, where bilateral economic engagement and trade negotiations are likely to remain in focus.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is expected to be in New York later this month for the UN General Assembly, traditionally one of the most important annual opportunities for high-level diplomatic engagement between India and the United States.

October will then bring Rubio’s expected India visit, creating another major opportunity to address bilateral, regional and global priorities.

The diplomatic calendar will culminate in December, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to travel to the United States for the G20 Leaders’ Summit under the US presidency. The summit is scheduled for December 14-15 in Miami.

FROM FINANCE TO FOREIGN POLICY, AND FINALLY LEADERS

The frequency and range of these engagements are particularly significant.

Over the coming months, India and the United States will engage across virtually every major pillar of their relationship, from finance and trade to foreign policy, strategic cooperation and leader-level diplomacy.

Sitharaman’s engagements in the United States have focused on economic and financial cooperation. Goyal’s upcoming visit will bring trade and commercial ties into sharper focus. Jaishankar’s UNGA engagements will provide a platform for high-level foreign-policy discussions.

Rubio’s expected October visit to India could then carry those discussions directly into the strategic and diplomatic sphere, including the Indo-Pacific and the Quad.

Finally, PM Modi’s expected participation in the G20 Leaders’ Summit in December will provide an opportunity for the relationship to be assessed at the highest political level.

The United States’ G20 presidency adds another dimension. Meetings are already taking place across the country ahead of the December leaders’ summit, highlighting Washington’s effort to use the G20 platform to shape discussions on global growth, trade, investment, debt and emerging technologies.

THE FIRST STEP TOWARD THE NEXT QUAD SUMMIT

Against this backdrop, Thursday’s Sherpa meeting in New Delhi could prove more consequential than its relatively low-profile format suggests.

The meeting will likely serve as a stepping stone toward the next Quad Leaders’ Summit, allowing the four countries to begin narrowing priorities and identifying areas where they can announce concrete outcomes.

It also sends a broader message about continuity in the India-US strategic relationship.

Despite a delay in the trade deal, India and the United States continue to expand their engagement across defense, technology, critical minerals, investment, supply chains and the Indo-Pacific.

The next three months will test how far that momentum can translate into concrete outcomes.

From a Quad Sherpa meeting in New Delhi to ministerial engagements in the United States, a possible Rubio visit to India and finally a Modi visit for the G20 Leaders’ Summit, September through December could become the most consequential period for India-US engagement in at least two years.

Thursday’s Quad meeting in Delhi may well mark the first step in that diplomatic sprint.

- Ends