Quad Foreign Ministers meet LIVE: Indo-Pacific will become even more important to the world, says Jaishankar

Quad Foreign Ministers' meeting, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, "And last, I also want to thank India for committing to hosting the next iteration of the Quad at Sea mission,  which brings together our respective coast guards  together in one place on one ship. The reason why maritime security is so important, beyond the fact that current events remind us of what can happen when maritime security is impeded, is the fact that 60%  of global maritime trade passes through the Indo-Pacific,  and it's a vital national interest not just to the four countries represented here today, but to dozens of countries, countless countries around the world. The second initiative: we're going to be partnering on issues of port infrastructure.  In particular, in response to insufficient port capacity in the Pacific Islands.  We're announcing plans to work with Fiji to advance that country's port infrastructure. It'll be the first time that the Quad partners work together on a port infrastructure project."

Quad Foreign Ministers' meeting, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said," I'm very happy today that as a result of the work that our teams have been doing leading up to this conversation, we have real concrete achievable that we can announce to our respective countries and to the world. On the issue of maritime security, there are two big announcements. The first is the launch of the Indo-Pacific Maritime Surveillance Cooperation Initiative, which is going to leverage each of our country's maritime surveillance capabilities in the Indo-Pacific to enhance information sharing. Related to that is also the expansion of the Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness Initiative, which provides and can provide near-real-time commercial maritime domain awareness data to countries throughout the Indo-Pacific."

After the Quad Foreign Ministers' meeting, EAM Dr S Jaishankar said, "The Quad nations are open societies that foster innovation and creativity in our quest for growth and prosperity.  These forces are strengthened when we undertake more exchanges  as we intend to do. So, whether it is in business forums, healthcare initiatives, or digital activities, each facet of a joint effort makes the region that much better. As democratic nations, we also devoted attention to countering the common threat of terrorism. There must be zero tolerance for terrorism, and nations subject to terrorist attacks have the right to defend themselves."

"A free and open Indo-Pacific has many dimensions and facets.  Our meeting today took stock of the progress in many of them while encouraging exploration in others. In the coming days, whether it is economic activity, energy trade or maritime commerce, the Indo-Pacific will become even more important to the world. The responsibilities of the Quad will grow commensurately, and we must prepare for that."

"The maritime domain has seen a steady expansion of collaboration, including surveillance and domain awareness, logistics network, undersea cables, training, capacity building and HADR activities. We will be continuing to deepen these areas in the times ahead. We spent some time on the question of safe and unimpeded maritime commerce and reaffirmed the significance of scrupulously observing international law. Our four nations are also market economies. We believe strongly that economic resilience should be promoted, the supply chains should be strengthened,  trusted and secure technologies diffused, and production capacities enhanced. Our deliberations touched on the current energy and fertiliser availability."

EAM S Jaishankar said, "We've just concluded a very substantive and productive meeting of the Quad foreign ministers. Much of the discussions and indeed the bilateral exchanges were devoted to the current state of the world. Being QUAD, we naturally focused on issues of particular relevance to the Indo-Pacific.  Because we are four maritime democracies located at different ends of the Indo-Pacific, the exchange of perspectives was an exercise of considerable value."

At Quad Foreign Ministers' meet in Delhi, Foreign Minister of Japan Toshimitsu Motegi said, "This Quad meeting signifies the firm message to the world that Quad will strongly promote cooperation to realise free and open Indo-Pacific. The Indo-Pacific nations should strengthen resilience and the necessary capacity to determine their own future, including economic security. Today, I hope for frank discussions, including accelerating the Quad collaboration."

During his opening remarks at the Quad Foreign Minister's Meeting, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, "Within minutes of being sworn in as the Secretary of State, Quad was one of the first agenda of my first meeting. Our goal, collectively over the last year is to turn this from a forum in which we meet and talk about problems to one in which we actually do something about them. We can report to our people respectively that we are beginning to do that pretty aggressively and impressively on the areas of cooperation. The areas on which we have collectively working, have become more important and more relevant because of recent events around the world. The most interesting thing about the Quad is not the coming together of four strategic allies who come together to compare notes on areas of common interest, but now its coming to the stage where we take action."

During her opening remarks at the Quad Foreign Minister's Meeting, Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong said, "Dr Jaishankar made a point in our one of the earlier Quad in Washington, about doing what we can, together, to ensure that the Indo-Pacific and the countries within it have the freedom of choice on their security and asserting their sovereign interest, on development, and on their future of the region. That is central to how Australia approaches our engagement in the Quad. We are four sovereign nations with our histories and interests, and with great alignment between our interests."

Indo-Pacific must remain a driver for global growth and stability, said EAM Jaishankar at the Quad meet.

At the Quad meeting, S Jaishankar stressed that at the global level, we have to address issues like supply chain resilience and connectivity choke points.

During his opening remarks at the Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting, EAM S Jaishankar said, "We are meeting for the third time in less than 18 months. Our focus will clearly be on the Indo-Pacific. At the global level, we have to address issues like supply chain resilience, connectivity choke points, manufacturing resource concentrations, and gaps in critical infrastructure... The Indo-Pacific has its own particular concerns which will require advancing strategic confidence, ensuring maritime security, promoting economic choices, and fostering a deeper collaborative ethos, and that is best done by promoting trusted and transparent partnerships... Indo-Pacific region must remain a driver of global growth and stability..."

The Quad, comprising India, the US, Australia and Japan, has emerged as a key grouping largely focusing on peace, security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

The New Delhi meeting will be attended by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar presiding over it.

The economic fallout of the West Asia crisis, the prevailing security situation in the Indo-Pacific and ways to boost cooperation in critical minerals and technology are expected to top the agenda at a crucial meeting of the Quad foreign ministers on Tuesday.