Quad calls for common vision for maintaining "free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific"

Tokyo, Oct 7: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday participated in the second Quadrilateral or QUAD - India, US, Australia, and Japan - ministerial meeting in Tokyo. All the countries reaffirmed their commitment to work towards an "open, inclusive and resilient Indo-Pacific" while exchanging their views during the second foreign ministers' meeting of the QUAD.

 

 

"The Foreign Ministers exchanged views about regional issues of mutual interest, and issues related to connectivity; humanitarian assistance and disaster relief; maritime safety and security; health security, and counter-terrorism. They reaffirmed their collective vision of maintaining a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific,"the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

 

 

 

"They reiterated their firm support to ASEAN centrality and highlighted their readiness to work towards realizing a common vision for the Indo-Pacific. Appreciating the value of these consultations, they agreed to hold them regularly," it added.

 

Further, the foreign ministers followed up on their discussions in September 2019 and discussed the post-COVID-19 international order. They called for a coordinated response to the challenges including financial problems emanating from the pandemic as well as the need to share best practices to combat COVID-19. They also discussed increasing the resilience of supply chains and enhancing access to affordable vaccines, medicines and medical equipment.

 

India, the US, Japan, and Australia form the Quadrilateral group. The ministers - US Secretary Mike Pompeo, Jaishankar, Australian foreign minister Marise Payne - are in Tokyo to attend the Quadrilateral foreign ministers meeting. Earlier, in the day, Jaishankar met his US counterpart. The QUAD countries have been formed to work towards an "open, inclusive and resilient Indo-Pacific".

 

India-Pacific region is largely viewed as an area comprising the Indian Ocean and the western and central Pacific Ocean, including the South China Sea. China's territorial claims in the South China Sea and its efforts to advance into the Indian Ocean are seen to have challenged the established rules-based system.

 

The Quad meeting comes against the backdrop of China’s aggressive actions across the Indo-Pacific. All the four countries are having differences with China as India is engaged in a border standoff in Ladakh, Australia has announced to stop projects under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Japan is concerned about Chinese interfering near the Senkaku Islands while the US is engaged in a trade war.

 

Along with them, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan also have counterclaims in the South China Sea. Beijing's rising assertiveness against counter claimants in the East and South Sea has resulted in unprecedented agreement across the Indian-Pacific.