Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met his US counterpart Marco Rubio and exchanged views on a wide range of regional and global issues in their first bilateral meeting hours after the Secretary of State assumed office this week.
It came soon after foreign ministers from Quad countries – India, Australia, Japan and the United States – in a joint statement reaffirmed their shared commitment to strengthening a free and open Indo-Pacific where "sovereignty and territorial integrity are upheld and defended." The Quad nations also expressed strong opposition "to any unilateral actions aimed at changing the status quo through force or coercion".
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with his Quad counterparts – Dr Jaishankar, Japan's Takeshi Iwaya, and Australia's Penny Wong – at the US Department of State. After the meeting, the Quad foreign ministers stated that they were preparing for the next Quad Leaders' Summit hosted by India.
"Our four nations maintain our conviction that international law, economic opportunity, peace, stability, and security in all domains including the maritime domain underpin the development and prosperity of the peoples of the Indo-Pacific," the statement noted.
Further, the Quad nations they are "committed to strengthening regional maritime, economic, and technology security in the face of increasing threats, as well as promoting reliable and resilient supply chains."
"We look forward to advancing the work of the Quad in the coming months and will meet together on a regular basis as we prepare for the next Quad Leaders' Summit hosted by India," it added.
(ANI)