External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who is here to attend US President-elect Donald Trump’s swearing-in, met with his counterparts from Australia and Japan during which they discussed bilateral issues and those pertaining to QUAD.

“Delighted to meet FM @SenatorWong, a Quad colleague, in Washington DC today. As always, enjoyed our discussion on the state of the world,” Jaishankar posted on X after meeting Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong.

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“Reviewed the progress in our bilateral cooperation. Also discussed developments pertaining to Quad,” he said in another post after his meeting with the Japanese foreign minister.

Jaishankar is also expected to meet the Trump administration’s secretary of state-elect Marco Rubio and the other two foreign ministers of QUAD countries.

According to sources, Rubio and President-elect Trump have made it a priority to take the India-US relationship to the next level. Rubio is keen to have his first bilateral with Jaishankar once he is confirmed as Secretary of State.

Jaishankar will also meet National Security Advisor (NSA)-elect Michael Waltz, who is co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans.

Waltz, once he takes over as NSA, would be co-chairing—with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval—the important US-India Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies, a collaborative framework for cooperation in technology. This includes joint efforts in fields like artificial intelligence, quantum computing, semiconductors and advanced telecommunications technologies, such as 6G.