Foreign Minister S Jaishankar will visit Japan from October 6 to 7 to participate in the second ministerial meeting of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad, and to hold a series of bilateral meetings in the context of India’s border confrontation with China.
The goal of the October 6 meeting is to strengthen strategic cooperation and promote the goal of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region. The meeting is expected to be followed by consultations at the senior official level in November.
Jaishankar is visiting Tokyo for bilateral consultations with his Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi and the two ministers are expected to discuss bilateral and regional issues of mutual interest, the Foreign Ministry said.
“During the visit, the Foreign Minister will also participate in the second India-Australia-Japan-US ministerial meeting. On October 6, 2020, in which the foreign ministers of the respective countries will participate, ”the ministry said in a statement.
Chancellors from Quad, which rose to ministerial level in September last year, will discuss the “post-Covid-19 international order and the need for a coordinated response to the various challenges emerging from the pandemic,” according to the statement. .
The ministers will also discuss regional issues and “collectively affirm the importance of maintaining a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific.”
Jaishankar will also hold bilateral consultations with Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during the visit.
The Quad meeting will discuss collaboration among Quad countries on counterterrorism, cyber and maritime security, development finance, humanitarian assistance and disaster response, according to South Block officials. The ministers are also expected to discuss practical collaborations in the development of advanced technologies, including 5G and 5G-plus telecommunications standards, as well as the protection of maritime communication routes in the Indo-Pacific.
There has been a sea change since ministers met informally on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly on September 26, 2019. Quad is expected to move towards an institutionalized dialogue at the meeting, where Chinese actions since the rise of the global pandemic in Wuhan will come under scrutiny.
The Quad ministerial meeting comes at a time when the Donald Trump administration has taken a 180-degree turn in US policies toward China, which were guided by the policy of rapprochement designed by Henry Kissinger 50 years ago under the Republican administration of Richard Nixon. America’s tough new policy toward communist China was defined by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in his speech at the Nixon Library on July 24.
India’s relationship with China has taken a 180-degree turn since the Chennai summit on October 11-12, 2019, following the People’s Liberation Army’s aggression in eastern Ladakh in May. The armies of the two countries are still locked in an all-out fight in Ladakh with both sides losing soldiers in the June 15 outbreak in the Galwan Valley; The shooting into the air continued in the first week of September after the Indian army overtook the PLA south of Pangong Tso.
Australia’s relationship with China, its largest trading partner, has taken a nosedive with Beijing imposing an 80% tariff on barley, launching an anti-dumping investigation on Australian wine, blocking Australian meat, arresting an Australian journalist and banning two academics visit China.
The situation with Japan is no different, with Chinese warmongering over the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea forcing Tokyo to increase its defense budget to a record high. Tokyo is also upset by the new security laws in Hong Kong and the pressure exerted by Beijing on democratic Taiwan.
Quad members, especially India, Japan and Australia, have also stepped up their work to forge partnerships with like-minded countries in the region, or with interests in the Indian Ocean, with a view to increasing China’s assertiveness and aggressiveness.
Jaishankar recently said that India and Japan were looking to cooperate on projects in Bangladesh and Myanmar as part of their efforts to work together in third countries.
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin pointed to the Quad meeting and warned that an “exclusive clique” should not be formed.
“Peace, development and global cooperation is the predominant trend in the world today. Multilateral and plurilateral cooperation must be open, inclusive and transparent. No one should be looking for an exclusive clique, ”he said.
“Efforts should be made to improve mutual understanding and trust in the countries of the region, rather than targeting a third party or damaging the interests of a third party.”
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