Washington

US President Donald Trump’s planned meeting with Quad leaders during his Asia trip could help deepen ties with India and strengthen Washington’s diplomatic position before talks with China, former diplomat and experts said.

The meeting would bring together leaders of the United States, India, Japan and Australia. It would be the first gathering of Quad leaders in the current Trump administration, Edgard Kagan, a former US ambassador to Malaysia and now the Freeman Chair in China Studies at Center for Strategic and International Studies told reporters at a news conference.

Kagan said the absence of a leaders’ meeting had caused disappointment and coincided with friction between Washington and New Delhi. He described the decision to hold one as significant for efforts to restore the relationship with India.

Meeting the Quad before travelling to China would also remind Chinese President Xi Jinping of Washington’s ties with major regional partners, he said.

The India focus comes during a wider trip involving engagements linked to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. Speakers said commercial deals would feature prominently, while expectations for Trump’s immediate discussions with Xi remained limited.

Kagan said there had already been several Quad meetings at foreign minister level, including one in Atlanta. He argued that engagement with allies and partners before a presidential visit to China strengthened the US position.

Victor Cha, president of the centre’s Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department and Korea Chair, said the administration was looking for trade agreements during the Southeast Asian leg of the trip.

One possible initiative would encourage ASEAN countries to adopt US artificial intelligence technology, with development assistance offered as an incentive, Cha said. He stressed that he did not know whether Southeast Asian governments had accepted the proposal.

Gregory Poling, director of the centre’s Southeast Asia Program, cautioned that details of Trump’s engagement with ASEAN as an organisation remained unclear.

For the China leg, Kagan said White House signals suggested Trump’s contact with Xi at APEC would amount to a courtesy call. Cha similarly said the administration had sought to lower expectations.

The more substantive discussions were expected in Miami three weeks later, Cha said. Possible topics included trade arrangements, an artificial intelligence safety dialogue and US concerns about China’s implementation of commitments on rare earth exports.

Kagan said economic friction remained despite the trade truce. He pointed to US complaints about rare earth supplies and said allies, particularly Japan, had also raised concerns. “China needs to follow through on its commitments,” he said.