Washington DC, June 4 -- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday (local time) confirmed that the work is underway to schedule a Quad leaders' summit later this year, potentially on the sidelines of a major international gathering in the Indo-Pacific region.

Speaking during the testimony before the Foreign Affairs Committee, Rubio said efforts are underway to bring together the leaders of the four Quad partners, the United States, India, Australia, and Japan, in a flexible format rather than a standalone summit.

Referring to the ongoing coordination among the four countries, Rubio said, "Australia's also part of the Quad that we have with Japan and India. I mean, they were at our meeting last week. We have a lot we're working on t...