U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, right, meets with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar at the State Department, on January 21, 2025, in Washington. | Photo Credit: AP

QUAD meeting: U.S. wants to address concerns on ‘irregular migration’ with India, says Rubio to Jaishankar

New U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio convenes Quad Foreign Ministers meeting and first bilateral with Jaishankar in Washington, emphasising economic ties and strategic cooperation

by · The Hindu

The U.S. wants to address the issue of illegal migration with India, new U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar during their meeting in Washington.

The bilateral meeting, which was also Mr. Rubio’s first meeting with any foreign dignitary after taking charge of the U.S. State Department on Tuesday (January 21, 2025), was held just after a meeting of the Quad Foreign Ministers including Australian FM Penny Wong and Japanese FM Iwaya Takeshi.

Japan’s Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi, from left, India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong pose for a photograph before meeting at the State Department on January 21, 2025 in Washington. | Photo Credit: AP

The comments on immigration issues, came a day after U.S. President Donald Trump issued a number of Executive Orders on cancelling ‘citizenship by birthright’ and cracking down on illegal immigrants.

A readout issued by the U.S. State Department on Wednesday (January 22, 2025) said that the two leaders had discussed a “wide range of issues” including “critical and emerging technologies, defence cooperation, energy, and on advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific region”.

“Secretary Rubio also emphasised the Trump Administration’s desire to work with India to advance economic ties and address concerns related to irregular migration,” the U.S. State Department said.

Mr. Jaishankar posted photographs of the meeting on social media, adding that  they had reviewed the “extensive bilateral partnership, of which Mr. Rubio has been a strong advocate” and shared views on regional and global issues. “[I] look forward to closely working with him to advance our strategic cooperation”, Mr. Jaishankar added, but did not refer to the conversation on “irregular migration”.  

There are an estimated 7.25 lakh undocumented Indians in the U.S. among 1.4 million in total, according to the U.S. Immigration agency ICE, of which nearly 18,000 are on a list for “final removal” or deportations. The MEA did not respond to requests for a comment on Mr. Rubio’s demand, nor did it respond to reports that India has agreed to cooperate in the deportation of the 18,000 Indians on the list.

The citizenship by birth revocation, which is due to be implemented within 30 days if not annulled by U.S. courts, would affect hundreds of thousands of Indians working in the U.S. on H1-B visas and other temporary visas, and had hoped to raise families there.

Neither side referred to Mr. Trump’s other statement while issuing the EOs, that he would levy a “100% tax” on members of the BRICS grouping of emerging economies, if they sought to side-line the U.S. dollar in trading.

Mr. Jaishankar also met with incoming U.S. National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, whom he had also met on his previous visit to Washington in December to discuss an “active and outcome oriented agenda”. 

Earlier, Mr. Jaishankar attended the Quad Foreign Minister’s meeting along with foreign ministers of Australia and Japan, which was Mr. Rubio’s first foreign policy engagement after meeting State Department employees. A joint statement issued by the four Ministers said that they “strongly oppose any unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion”, a message believed to be aimed at China’s actions in the region.

The statement was significant as Chinese Vice Premier Hang Zheng was one of the senior dignitaries that attended Mr. Trump’s inauguration on Monday (January 20, 2025), deputed to represent China after Mr. Trump invited Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The next Quad Summit is due to be held in India, which wasn’t able to host the Summit in 2024 due to former U.S. President Biden’s unavailability. “We look forward to advancing the work of the Quad in the coming months and will meet together on a regular basis as we prepare for the next Quad Leaders’ Summit hosted by India,” the Quad Minister’s statement read, indicating there would be another such Foreign Minister’s meeting in the next few months.

Mr. Jaishankar said that it was “significant that the Quad FMM took place within hours of the inauguration of the Trump Administration”.

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“This underlines the priority it has in the foreign policy of its member states… The meeting today sends a clear message that in an uncertain and volatile world, the Quad will continue to be a force for global good,” he wrote on social media platform X.

In interviews to U.S. journalists  on his first day in office, Mr. Rubio also indicated the priority to the Indo-Pacific region. “My first meeting right out of the box, as soon as I’m sworn in and get over to the State Department, is with the members of the so-called Quad, which are important allies in Australia and Japan and India,” he told ABC News.

While Japan and Australia are “treaty allies”, having signed alliance agreements, India does not accept the term, and Mr. Jaishankar has said on a number of occasions that India was “never part of an alliance system and will never be”.

Published - January 22, 2025 06:19 am IST