- Thursday, February 27, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
US SECRETARY of state Antony Blinken is likely to travel to Australia next month to meet his counterparts from India, Japan and the host nation to discuss Indo-Pacific coordination, sources in the Australian government on Monday (31) said.
The two-day meeting between the foreign ministers of the four members of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) will take place amid US president Joe Biden’s concerns over China, even as tensions with Russia on Ukraine escalate in Europe.
Beijing has earlier slammed Quad as a Cold War construct and a clique that targets other nations.
Australian foreign minister Marise Payne did not reveal a specific date for the upcoming meeting but said that she looked forward to welcoming her counterparts from the other Quad nations Down Under in the coming weeks, Reuters reported.
“We are a vital network of liberal democracies cooperating to give our region strategic choices, with a focus on practical steps to build the resilience and sovereignty of all states,” Payne said.
Australia is focusing on deepening its partnerships in the region amid “strategic competition, threats to liberal international order and increasing uncertainty”, she said.
Previously, the media in Japan reported that the Quad meeting could take place virtually because of pandemic restrictions over international travel. Indian external affairs minister Subrahmayam Jaishankar said earlier this week that he has tested positive for Covid-19.
Have tested Covid positive.
Urge all those who have come in recent contact to take suitable precautions.
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) January 27, 2022
Australian officials hope Jaishankar will recover by the time the meeting is held in February.
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi is also expected to take part in the meeting.
The Quad had previously discussed boosting the supply of Covid vaccines to the region, supply chains for semiconductors and technology cooperation. It has also held joint naval exercises.
In September last year, the leaders of the four countries, including Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, met at the White House in Washington on the invitation of Biden.
