Melbourne/New Delhi, Feb 11: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday said he is impressed by the progress the Quad has made after the end of the meeting with his counterparts from Australia, Japan and the US.
In a tweet at the end of the Fourth Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Melbourne, he said: “A long and productive day in Melbourne. Just finished the 4th Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting. Impressed by the progress we have made. “Thank FM @MarisePayne for excellent arrangements. Heading for the press conference.” Earlier, during the joint call on Australian PM Scott Morrison, Jaishankar said that one of the reasons why the Quad has worked so well is due to the strong bilateral relations thatJaishankar said that it’s his first visit to Australia as EAM, “and it’s very appropriate that it should happen for a Quad meeting” and then for the bilateral meetings later. He said in September last year, PM Modi, PM Morrison, President Biden and the then PM of Japan “collectively gave us guidance, laid out a vision for the Quad to go forward….Today’s meeting will give us an opportunity to review how much we have progressed on that vision you have set out.” Referring to the bilateral ties with Canberra, he said: ”I do want to recognise how much progress we have made in our ties with Australia…. One of the reasons I think why Quad has worked so well is because our bilaterals have been very strong.”The EAM in a tweet also voiced appreciation that PM Morrison had met the Quad FMs collectively, and added that his insights and thoughts were valuable. “ Appreciate that PM @ScottMorrisonMP met the Quad FMs collectively before we began talks. His insights and thoughts were valuable. “We are focused on the early and effective realization of our Leaders’ vision.”
PM Morrison, in his address to the four foreign ministers, said: “I’m reassured by our perspective, I’m reassured by the understanding that is shared between each of us. I’m reassured by the incredible strong support that Australia has received from our Quad partners, and I mean that in the security context, I mean that in the context of our economic cooperation, in our humanitarian partnership, in terms of health…. “We look for an alliance that very much has the Asean partners at the centre of our understanding of the Indo-Pacific vision… We all share a deep passion for Asean; and our partnership with them will help us achieve many things that we are working on as Quad… The things we discuss today are principally how we will continue to stand up for our values, which unites us most; and secondly in doing so, we stand up to those who expect to coerce us; and as I understand from our Quad partners, none of you understand that better than we do, and that is a great comfort to us; the coercion the pressure that Australia has been facing, we greatly appreciate this Quad” — in reference to tensions with China. “But we also share a vision for a stronger economy, not just regional stability and security, and our engagement in this region,” Morrison added.
The four foreign ministers — Jaishankar, Australia’s Marise Payne, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Japan’s Yoshimasa Hayashi – participated in the meeting. The meeting today was a follow up on their virtual meeting held in February 2021 and they ministers were to exchange views on regional strategic issues given their shared vision of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region.The Ministers were also to review ongoing Quad cooperation and build on the positive and constructive agenda announced by the Leaders at the two Summits in 2021, to address contemporary challenges such as the COVID pandemic, supply chains, critical technologies, climate change, infrastructure etc.
