India-US-Australia-Japan Quad Dialogue Soon: Aus PM Morrison

Morrison said that reengagement in multilateral organisations in the Indo-Pacific is key to building stability.

Image used for representation.

(Photo: Erum Gour/The Quint)

The first ever meeting of the head of states of India-Australia-Japan-USA Quad grouping is likely to take place soon, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday, 5 March.

A grouping of four countries with a "chequered history", the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, better known as the Quad was initiated in 2007 to uphold strategic interests in the Indo-Pacific region primarily through the maintenance of the rules-based international order.

Saying that he had spoken to US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, Morrison said that the possible meet was one of the first things that they discussed.

“The Quad is very central to the US and our thinking about the region, and looking at the Indo-Pacific also through the prism of our ASEAN partners and their vision of the Indo-Pacific. So, yes, the Quad is very central, I think, to our ongoing arrangements,” Morrison said, as quoted by ANI, adding that he is “looking forward to that first gathering of the Quad leaders.”

Morrison said that reengagement in multilateral organisations, particularly in the Indo-Pacific, is key to building stability and peace in the Indo-Pacific.

The Recent Quad Meeting

The recent meeting of the Quad held on 18 February saw the three countries laud India’s efforts at providing COVID-19 vaccines to 74 countries and discuss upholding international order in times of the pandemic.

The meeting was attended by Minister of External Affairs Dr S Jaishankar with his counterparts Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, and American Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

The meeting also addressed concerns about climate change and the military coup in Myanmar, affirming the nations’ commitment to its democratic transition.

“The ministers emphasised their commitment to upholding a rules-based international order, underpinned by respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty, rule of law, transparency, freedom of navigation in the international seas and peaceful resolution of disputes,” the MEA had said in a statement.

(With inputs from ANI.