Atlanta, October 31, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
India has offered proposals to help keep Black Sea shipping routes operational amid the Russia-Ukraine war, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, as Washington explores ways to reduce the conflict’s impact on global food supplies and seeks practical outcomes from the next Quad leaders’ meeting.
Speaking after the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Atlanta, Rubio identified India and Türkiye as countries contributing ideas on protecting the movement of agricultural and other cargo through the Black Sea.
He cautioned, however, that international interest in the proposals should not be mistaken for progress towards an agreement.
Rubio said disruptions to shipping were affecting vulnerable countries, particularly in Africa, and that an arrangement to protect cargo movement could help reduce the conflict’s wider impact on food security.
“We’d like to see it happen. It doesn’t solve a war problem, but at least it diminishes some of the impact, spillover impact that it’s having on the food security of vulnerable countries,” he said.
Rubio declined to assess the prospects of a limited ceasefire covering shipping, saying Washington remained open to proposals while continuing its broader efforts to secure a negotiated end to the war.
Responding to an IANS question about India’s role and the Quad’s next steps, Rubio said the grouping needed to translate discussions into practical cooperation.
He identified infrastructure, disaster response and maritime awareness as areas where India, the US, Japan and Australia could work together. He also referred to a proposed business forum that would bring companies from the four countries together to identify commercial opportunities.
“We wanna continue to build on that, and we are hoping to put together a business forum so that the businesses of the four countries can meet and identify unique opportunities to work together,” he said.
Rubio said humanitarian assistance and disaster response offered opportunities for tangible cooperation, with the four countries able to pool resources and deliver relief quickly when regional nations face typhoons, earthquakes, mudslides or other emergencies.
Maritime cooperation, he added, would focus on developing a clearer understanding of activity both on the surface and underwater, including potential threats to freedom of navigation.
“The best way to make a forum useful and important is to make sure that it does something, not just talks about it, but does it,” Rubio said.
He expressed hope that Quad leaders would meet in Manila in November and announce further initiatives, describing the gathering as an expected development.
Asked whether the grouping’s concerns over economic coercion and export restrictions were directed at China, Rubio rejected the suggestion that the Quad was a coalition against any particular country.
“Now, those activities or behaviours are coming repetitively from one country, that’s gonna be obvious to everybody, but it is not an anti-China or anti-anybody coalition,” he said.
On the broader G20 discussions, Rubio said participants recognised common challenges involving food security, critical minerals, supply chains and freedom of navigation. However, he cautioned that recognising shared problems did not necessarily mean agreement on their causes or solutions.
He said US President Donald Trump wanted the G20 to focus on its economic objectives. The Atlanta discussions would contribute to preparations for the leaders’ summit in Florida in December, with energy access and secure supply chains among the priorities.
The Quad comprises India, the United States, Japan and Australia, with cooperation spanning maritime security, infrastructure, technology and humanitarian assistance in the Indo-Pacific.
The G20 was established in 1999 as a forum for finance ministers and central bank governors. It was elevated to the leaders’ level during the 2008 global financial crisis and has since served as a major platform for international economic cooperation.
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