India Skips Top Leaders for Key Quad Meeting

A diplomatic compromise is taking shape for the Quad alliance. India, after its term as chair ended without a leaders' summit, will now host a foreign ministers' meeting instead, according to two sources. The event may be presented with the importance of a leaders' discussion, even though the heads of state of the U.S., Japan, and Australia are not expected to attend. Analysts see this as an effort to address India's diplomatic concerns. The Quad, a group focused on security in the Indo-Pacific region, appears to be navigating uneven commitment among its members. “It’s akin to putting lipstick on a pig,” said Sourabh Gupta, a senior analyst at the Institute for China-America Studies. The remark underscores the view that the meeting is an attempt to disguise a significant downgrade in diplomatic engagement.