Our Bureau
Tokyo
On Monday, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong in Tokyo where he went to attend a meeting of foreign ministers of four-nation grouping Quad coalition. Both leaders met to discuss bilateral ties, including education, security trade and also practical cooperation across the Indo-Pacific.
Jaishankar also posted on X to express gratitude upon meeting Australian FM Wong and wrote that it was a great start to the morning. He also wrote, “We discussed further steps to intensify our bilateral ties, including in security, trade, and education. We also discussed deepening our practical cooperation across the Indo-Pacific. Look forward to continuing this at the Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting shortly.”
The members of the Quad are India, Australia, Japan and the United States. It was in November 2017, when the four nations gave shape to a proposal that was pending for a long time. The proposal was to set up the Quad to develop a strategy for keeping the critical sea routes free of any influence in the Indo-Pacific.
On Sunday, he also engaged in extensive discussions with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Tokyo, amid rising tensions in India-U.S. relations following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Russia.
Earlier, Jaishankar unveiled a bust of Mahatma Gandhi at Freedom Plaza in Edogawa. His visit to Japan, which began on Sunday, was part of the two-day trip for the Quad Foreign Ministers’ meeting, where regional and global issues, including the Russia-Ukraine conflict, were discussed. Their discussions focused on contemporary regional priorities and the provision of public goods.
This meeting marked the first encounter between Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken since Jaishankar’s reappointment to his position.
