Tokyo, October 6, 2020: The foreign ministers of India, the United States, Japan, and Australia here on Tuesday commenced Quad foreign ministers’ meeting.
This is the second foreign ministers’ meeting of the Quadrilateral grouping. India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, US Secretary Mike Pompeo, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi participated in the meeting hosted by Japan.
The Quad meeting is expected to focus on strategic and security challenges in the India-Pacific region and joint strategy is likely to be discussed.
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.
Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan 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 India-Pacific region.
According to the Nikkei Asian Review, several nations concerned are already deepening security ties with each other and the US to mitigate the threat.
In recent years, Japan has expressed increasing concerns regarding Beijing’s activities in the region especially concerning the situation with the disputed Senkaku islands, known in China as the Diaoyudao islands, and claimed by Beijing to be Chinese territory.(Agencies)
