EAM Jaishankar to visit Australia to participate in Quad FMs meeting

Australia will host a meeting of FMs from Quad nations in Melbourne this month, which will also see the participation of US Secretary of State Antony and other quad leaders. This will be Dr S Jaishankar's first visit to Australia as EAM and the first foreign visit in the year 2022.

New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar is set to visit Australia in mid-February for the annual Quad (India, Japan, the United States, and Australia) foreign ministers meeting. However, the Ministry of External Affairs is yet to announce the date of his visit.

Australia will host a meeting of FMs from Quad nations in Melbourne this month, which will also see the participation of US Secretary of State Antony and other quad leaders. This will be Dr. S Jaishankar's first visit to Australia as EAM and the first foreign visit in the year 2022.

Apart from the multilateral meet, Jaishankar’s visit will also see bilateral discussion with the Quad leaders to further enhance strong ties to counter Beijing in the Indo-Pacific. Given the rising concerns over China’s aggressive behavior and growing influence in the Indo-Pacific, this annual Quad meeting in Australia assumes great significance.

The Quad Foreign Ministers meeting in Australia will be an opportunity for the leaders to work and discuss ways to further deepen partnerships in the region at a time when the strategic competition of the Chinese is increasing. In fact, the Indo-Pacific construct provides New Delhi with an opportunity to rise above its long-labeled middle power status. The meeting also gains significance in the context of border tension between Russia and Ukraine, which is souring Russia-China relations.

In an interview with ETV Bharat, former ambassador Jitendra Tripathi opined that the Quad summit is unlikely to discuss the Ukraine crisis in detail as the Quad agenda is mainly Indo-Pacific and China. The meeting is significant from China’s perspective and it will provide an opportunity for the Quad leaders to review and take stock of the joint work of the groups on different areas.

Earlier this month, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation quoted Australian Foreign minister Marise Payne who said in a statement that the Quad meet is a further demonstration of the Morrison government’s efforts to actively shape and influence our region and world by deepening partnerships at a time of strategic competition, threats to liberal international order and increasing uncertainty.

At the beginning of the New Year, EAM Jaishankar had a diplomatic conversation with Australian Foreign Minister and Quad partner Marise Payne and reiterated that he was confident that 2022 will see even greater advancement in ties. Taking to Twitter, Jaishankar said, “Recognized the great progress in bilateral cooperation in my talk with the Foreign Minister”.

The last meeting of Quad FMs took place in October 2020. Since then, Quad has been elevated to a leaders’ level. The year 2021 saw two Quad summits. The first one was virtual. The second in-person summit took place in Washington.

Quad summits will take place annually now. The summit will take place in Japan later this year, followed by India next year.

According to sources, Jaishankar is also slated to visit France in February itself as the country will host a meeting on Indo-Pacific 2022 involving foreign ministers of Europe and other countries including India, Australia.