Australia is hosting India, Japan and the United States for the fourth Quad Foreign Ministers' meeting in Melbourne. The top diplomats are seeking to bolster cooperation in areas including economy, security, coronavirus pandemic and free and open Indo-Pacific.
The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) is a partnership of four nations, each of whom shares a commitment to openness, transparency and challenges coming out of the current global order. This is the first time Quad Foreign Ministers are meeting since the two Quad Summits last year.
Advocating for upholding a rules-based international order free from coercion, Indian External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar said since the last interaction of Quad foreign ministers meeting last February, the "geopolitical and geo-economic global scenario has become more complex."
"As leading democracies, we pursue our shared vision of upholding a rules-based international order free from coercion...based on respect for territorial integrity sovereignty, rule of law, transparency, freedom of navigation in the international seas and peaceful resolution," said Jaishankar at the 4th Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting.
"As pandemic continues to impact us, we have undertaken collective efforts to address global health security, Quad vaccine initiative and our collective vaccine delivery. These have been very crucial for countries in Indo-Pacific to meet these challenges," he added.
The Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the Quad partnership is committed to openness, transparency and practical cooperation to support regional recovery in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Payne said the grouping is about "what four democracies can bring to support the priorities of Indo-Pacific partners. "In response to the strategic competition in the Indo-Pacific region, we are both working together to amplify and coordinate responses to the most pressing issue of concern to nations across our region."
(ANI)