Quad’s 3rd Ministerial Meeting: Foreign Ministers of India, Australia, USA and Japan to meet today

 The 3rd ministerial meeting of India-Australia-Japan-US will have the participation of the respective foreign ministers.

The Quad or Quadrilateral Security Dialogue will hold its 3rd ministerial meeting on February 18, 2021, to interchange the views on global and regional issues. The meeting will particularly focus on the practical areas of cooperation for maintaining an open, free, and inclusive Indo-Pacific region.

As per the official statement by the Ministry of External Affairs, the 3rd ministerial meeting of India-Australia-Japan-US will have the participation of the respective foreign ministers presenting different agendas.

This meeting will be a continuation of the views which were exchanged in the last QUAD meeting which was held in Tokyo on October 6, 2020. The first meeting of QUAD took place in New York in 2019.

What can be expected from QUAD’s 3rd meeting?

During the Quad meeting, the Foreign Ministers of Australia, India, the USA, and Japan apart from exchanging views on the global and regional issues will also discuss the ongoing efforts to combat the Coronavirus pandemic. They will also be addressing global climate change and other issues of mutual interest.

Call to end China’s hegemony over the region:

The initiative is also expected to put an end to the economic coercion tactics of China. The cooperation with Japan and other allies will checkmate the Chinese development assistance and its domination in the region.

During the October 2020 meeting, the previous US-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had reprimanded China for using its economic power in order to increase its domination over the neighbouring countries in South China. He brought to the forum attention to China’s corruption, exploitation, and coercion of the neighbouring countries.

About Quadrilateral Security Dialogue:

It is an informal strategic forum between Japan, Australia, India, and the United States of America. The forum is maintained by the information exchanges, semi-regular summits, and military drills between the countries.

The forum was first initiated as a dialogue in August 2007 by the then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe with the support of then Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of Australia John Howard, and the Vice-President of US Dick Cheney.

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