New Delhi: India, Australia, Japan and the United States of America met in Singapore on Thursday on the sidelines of the ASEAN-centred meet the country is hosting this week.
The four-nation coalition, known as QUAD (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue) held discussions over various ways to enhance connectivity and strengthen regional security in the Indo-Pacific region.
As per sources privy to the meeting, JS (EA) and JS (AMS) represented the Indian side.
The meeting comes just days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his Shangri-La dialogue debut where he underscored the global importance of the Indo-Pacific region. The meeting also comes after the US renamed its Pacific Command as Indo-Pacific Command.
An MEA statement said that the QUAD reaffirmed their strong support for ASEAN centrality and ASEAN-led mechanisms in the regional architecture for the Indo-Pacific and "reaffirmed their support for a free, open, prosperous and inclusive Indo-Pacific region."
This was the second QUAD meeting after it held its first ever meeting in Manila in November last year. The emerging quadrilateral is often seen as a means to counter China's aggressive maritime expansion under its Belt and Road initiative. If successful, China's plans would cement Beijing's sphere of influence well beyond Asia.
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