Indo-Pacific is free and open: QUAD

Within hours of President Donald Trump's inauguration as the 47th President, the US hosted a meeting of Quad foreign ministers where the four-nation grouping vowed cooperation and with an eye on China, the US, Australia, India and Japan recommitted to working together to free and open Indo-Pacific.

- VINAY KUMAR

With anti-China focus, the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Japan's Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya "strongly opposed any unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion."

The meeting of Quad foreign ministers signalled countering China a top priority for the Trump administration.

In a joint statement after the talks in Washington, hosted by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on his first day in office, the Quad nations said officials would meet regularly to prepare for an upcoming leaders' summit in India, expected this year. Actually, India was to host the summit last year but US President Joe Biden was keen to hold it in Wilmington.

RUBIO'S FIRST MEETING

Significantly, the first meeting the new Secretary of State had after assuming office with a foreign representative was with India's Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar.

RULE OF LAW AND FREE AND OPEN PACIFIC

The Quad foreign ministers reaffirmed their "shared commitment to strengthening a Free and Open Indo-Pacific.