US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price on Wednesday said that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will hold a virtual meeting on Thursday with his counterparts from Japan, Australia, and India in the Quad (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue) framework.
Quad is an informal strategic forum between the United States, Japan, Australia and India maintained by information exchanges and military drills. The Quad initiative is also seen as part of efforts to balance China’s growing military and economic power. The Japan Times reported that the Quad framework are working to arrange the first meeting of their leaders amid China’s growing clout in the region.
Price said: “This discussion with the Quad foreign ministers is critical to advancing our shared goals in the free and open Indo-Pacific and rising to the defining challenges of our time, including coordinating our efforts and Covid-19 response, as well as climate change.”
Price also stated that on a separate call on Thursday, Blinken will discuss common global issues with counterparts from Germany, UK, and France.
Previously, US President Joe Biden has said that working closely with allies will be key to his strategy toward China. As we have reported earlier, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Biden during a phone call agreed to boost Indo-Pacific security through Quad.
The Japan Times also reported that in 2019 in New York the foreign ministers met for the first time under the Quad framework and they met again last year in Tokyo.
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