Melbourne: During their fourth meeting in Melbourne, the foreign ministers of the four members of the Quad reviewed cooperation in several areas such as the Covid-19 response and maritime security, among others.
Quad meeting began today in Melbourne. EAM Dr S Jaishankar, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi & US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, participate in 4th Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.
Jaishankar told a joint news conference after the ministerial meeting that the foreign ministers held productive discussions. He said the robust bilateral relations between the Quad members, their strategic convergences and shared democratic values helped make the Quad a vibrant and substantial network with a shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific.
Jaishankar said the Quad members will continue to support their partners in Asean to uphold peace and security in the region, and also take steps to strengthen people-to-people linkages through education and think tank linkages.
Earlier, the Australian Foreign Minister said that the Quad partnership was committed to openness, transparency & Recovery in the face of COVID-19.
She also said that for Australia, India-Japan-US are the closest partners. In response to strategic competition in Indo-Pacific, we’re working together to both amplify & coordinate responses to the most pressing issues that concern the nations across our region”
Earlier, External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the 4th Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Melbourne.
Responding to ANI, the EAM said, “Quad, we’ve progressed a lot & much of that is due to the fact that we’ve all devoted a lot of time, energy, attention to that. We’ve made it into concrete actionable propositions our teams have worked on…A big part of that is because we’ve strong bilateral relationships.
On Wednesday, China had lashed out at the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue foreign ministers’ meeting, accusing the members, including India, of driving wedges in the region and having a “Cold War mentality”. Opposing the Quad in strong words, the Chinese foreign ministry said as a “bloc”, it was trying to trigger confrontation unlike China, which stands for peace and development.
