Rubio called China the "most potent, dangerous adversary" during his confirmation and is expected to work with India, Japan, and Australia to counter this.

The new secretary of state met with his counterparts from Australia, India, and Japan after being sworn in Tuesday.

On his first full day as secretary of state, Marco Rubio is meeting with his counterparts from a group of countries known as the Quad: the United States plus India, Japan, and Australia, representing nearly 2 billion people and more than a third of global GDP.

On his first full day as US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio is engaging with the Quad — comprising the US, India, Japan, and Australia — aiming to strengthen diplomatic ties and counter China’s rising influence.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Tuesday with ... However, none of the four foreign ministers — Rubio, Australian Penny Wong, Indian S. Jaishankar or Japanese Iwaya Takeshi ...

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Tuesday with ... meeting unfolded as none of the ministers — Rubio, Australian Penny Wong, Indian S. Jaishankar or Japanese Iwaya Takeshi ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Tuesday with ... However, none of the four foreign ministers — Rubio, Australian Penny Wong, Indian S. Jaishankar or Japanese Iwaya Takeshi ...

However, none of the four foreign ministers — Rubio, Australian Penny Wong, Indian S. Jaishankar or Japanese Iwaya Takeshi — spoke as they opened their meeting at the State Department. Instead they stood silent and expressionless in front of their respective flags before journalists were ushered out.

Notably, the pithy, two-paragraph joint statement issued from that meeting departed from previous Quad statements that paid at least nominal homage to Asean and other regional mechanisms such as the Pacific Islands Forum and Indian Ocean Rim Association.

Neither side's official readout of the call on Monday mentioned that they talked about the much-criticised planned handover of the archipelago to Mauritius.

Various members of the cricketing fraternity took to social media to extend their Republic Day wishes on Sunday.

On his first full day as secretary of state, Marco Rubio is meeting with his counterparts from a group of countries known as the Quad: the United States plus India, Japan and Australia, representing nearly 2 billion people and more than a third