The foreign ministers of Japan, the United States, Australia, and India met on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Manila in July 2026 and issued a joint press release reaffirming their support for ASEAN centrality and the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP). The Quad ministers committed to deepening cooperation with ASEAN, with the Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) as a core pillar.
Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe first proposed the FOIP at the Sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Nairobi, Kenya, in August 2016. Abe envisioned Asia and Africa, and the Pacific and Indian Oceans, as an inseparable region and expressed Japan's commitment to maintaining freedom from coercion, the rule of law, and a market economy across it. ASEAN adopted its own Indo-Pacific vision, the AOIP, in June 2019, guided by principles including ASEAN centrality, inclusiveness, and respect for international law.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi attended the Japan-ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in October 2025, where she stated Japan's commitment to safeguarding Indo-Pacific peace, stability, and prosperity by evolving the FOIP and deepening synergy with the AOIP. The summit leaders issued a joint statement affirming that Japan's FOIP and the AOIP share fundamental principles and that implementing the AOIP contributes to a rules-based international order.
At a speech in Hanoi, Vietnam, in May 2026, Takaichi outlined an updated FOIP framework focused on three priorities: building economic infrastructure for the artificial intelligence and data era, co-creating economic growth opportunities and shared rules, and enhancing security cooperation. The Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting held in New Delhi later that month welcomed the updated framework and announced four concrete initiatives: maritime and transnational security, economic prosperity and security, critical and emerging technology, and humanitarian assistance and emergency response.
A spokesperson for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticized the updated FOIP as a "sugarcoated scheme that sows division and rivalry," claiming it will not win genuine recognition from regional countries. The framework has gained broad support across the Indo-Pacific since its inception a decade ago.
