New Delhi: Ahead of the meeting between the Quad nations, the U.S has said it was important for the Biden administration to underline the importance and commitment it holds for the Indo-Pacific region.
The leaders of the Quad nations- United States, India, Japan, Australia is slated to hold the first-ever summit-level talks virtually on March 12. The quad group aimed at strengthening cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region to counter growing Chinese aggression.
US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price in his daily press briefing said, "It was important for us to underline the commitment to the Indo-Pacific region in the early days of this administration. As we have said from this podium, it’s a region that holds tremendous promise for the United States, also a tremendous challenge."
"We see ourselves as a Pacific nation. We see ourselves as engaged in this region. We want to deepen that engagement, and this is an important forum with important partners with whom we share a good deal of interest, so it was important for us to demonstrate that early on", he added.
India's external affairs ministry on Tuesday said the leaders will discuss regional and global issues of shared interest, and exchange views on practical areas of cooperation towards maintaining a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region".
The Summit will provide an opportunity to exchange views on contemporary challenges such as resilient supply chains, emerging and critical technologies, maritime security, and climate change.
The Leaders will also discuss ongoing efforts to combat the Covid-19 pandemic and explore opportunities for collaboration in ensuring safe, equitable and affordable vaccines in the Indo-Pacific region, it added.
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Later commenting on a query if the Quad is heading towards political, economic or political dimension, US state department spokesperson Price said, "As I mentioned before, the Quad is a grouping with important friends and allies of the United States, and it’s a grouping that is predicated on shared interests".
There are several shared interests. Some of them involve maritime security, global health, climate. So I would hesitate to point to one animating challenge that the Quad is set to address today. We are engaging with the Quad to take on those collective shared interests that will be relevant in that setting, Price added.
"Quad members are uniquely positioned to help lead the world out of the deep crises that we’ve spoken about recently – and, of course, that includes COVID-19 – and towards the more positive vision that we all seek. And it’s a vision that we in large part share with our fellow Quad counterparts", Ned Price reiterated.
He said that Quad is not about any single challenge. It’s not about any single competitor, adding that, " this is an entity forged and formed because we share common interests. They’re – maritime security is, of course, an important one, but our shared interests go well beyond that. And I think you will see reflected in the agenda the breadth of those shared interests in the aftermath of the Quad meeting".
Prime Minister Modi will be participating, along with Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison and Prime Minister of Japan Yoshihide Suga and President of the U.S.A. Joseph R. Biden, in the first Leaders’ Summit of the Quadrilateral Framework, being held virtually on 12th March.
On Tuesday, India's premier Narendra Modi held 40 minutes long telephonic with his Japanese counterpart to discuss quad cooperation. During the conversation, both the leaders from India and Japan shared the recognition that cooperation towards realizing a free and open Indo-Pacific is becoming increasingly important and to this end, shared the view to steadily advance both Japan-India bilateral cooperation and Japan-Australia-India-U.S quadrilateral cooperation.
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