Arya News - Foreign ministers from `the Quad` – a security cooperation framework between Japan, the United States, Australia, and India – met on Wednesday to reaffirm their cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, amid China’s increasing maritime expansion in the East and South China Seas.
MANILA – A foreign ministers’ meeting of the Quad, a framework for security cooperation among Japan, the United States, Australia and India, was held on Wednesday. The ministers reaffirmed their cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region amid China’s increasing maritime expansion in the East and South China Seas.
The meeting was attended by Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
Afterward, the four officials issued a joint document emphasizing the importance of “peace and stability in maritime areas.” As “comprehensive and strategic partners” of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, their nations reaffirmed their cooperation toward realizing a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” and their “unwavering support” for ASEAN.
At the meeting, the ministers discussed measures to strengthen support for ASEAN in four areas: maritime and transnational security; economic prosperity and economic security; critical and emerging technologies; and humanitarian assistance and emergency response.
This is the first foreign ministers’ meeting since the gathering held in India in May. The United States called for the latest meeting, to coincide with a gathering of ASEAN-related foreign ministers. This move is believed to have been spearheaded by Rubio, one of the few officials in the Trump administration who places a high priority on the Quad.