India hails expansive agenda of Quad meet in Tokyo

Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar speaking about the Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting on Monday said he was pleased about the expansive agenda Quad has built over the years.

Jaishankar said that there are 16 working groups and all of them are looking at how to advance, resource Quad better and coordinate more closely. He said they took important decisions in that direction.

"I appreciate what an expansive agenda we have built up in the last few years. We are working from trusted telecom technology and undersea cable connectivity, you just heard Minister Wong talk about it... humanitarian and disaster relief (HADR), Minister Kamikawa spoke about, critical and emerging technologies, cyber and health security, climate action, infrastructure, capacity building and training, STEM education, maritime domain awareness and counter-terrorism," EAM Jaishankar said while addressing the news conference of foreign ministers.

Jaishankar said that the Quad is not a 'talk shop' but a platform that generates practical outcomes.

"Our HADR conversations are reflected in understandings and SOPs between our Navies. The Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness initiative that came out of Quad today links information fusion centres. The Open-RAN network, which we have spoken about so much, is being deployed in Palau. A space-based climate warning system will be launched soon in Mauritius. Off-grid solar projects are actually happening in Indo-Pacific islands. During Covid, we cooperated to deliver vaccines to countries in this region. And the first cohort of Quad STEM fellowships is passing out and the second one will also cover the ASEAN," he said.

Jaishankar further said, "Our four countries - all democratic polities, pluralistic societies and market economies - are working together for a free and open Indo-Pacific, for a rules-based order and global good. That by itself is a powerful stabilising factor in an uncertain and volatile world."

Jaishankar said that the strong interaction between the Quad countries and their bilateral and trilateral ties enhances the value of the Quad. "There is a strong interactive dynamic between the Quad and our respective bilateral or even trilateral relationships. Progress on one front strengthens the other and thereby, enhances the value of the Quad. We have also been able to engage together with some other countries in this region in furtherance of a shared agenda," he said.

Jaishankar also said, "As the person, not just a Foreign Minister, longest associated with the Quad, the real satisfaction I have is to see how deeply and systemically it has now got embedded in our foreign policies."

"Different agencies of our Government and stakeholders beyond them - and this keeps expanding - now regularly interact with each other, to take it forward. And our leaders have personally led the Quad's growth."

Stability and security or progress and prosperity...need trusted partners and international cooperation. The Quad is a great contemporary example of both."

Jaishankar also thanked Japanese Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yoko for hosting the foreign ministers meeting.

(ANI)