Describing former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as the first leader to think “beyond alliances”, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Thursday paid tributes to the late leader who had first proposed the Australia-India-Japan-U.S. Quadrilateral, or ‘Quad’ dialogue in the Indo-Pacific.
Mr. Jaishankar was speaking at the launch of the book, The Importance of Shinzo Abe, which documents the former Japanese Prime Minister’s engagement with India, and in particular his relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Japan’s Ambassador to India Hiroshi Suzuki, who served with Abe during both his tenures as Prime Minister, recalled how even though the Quad didn’t succeed the first time, after Australia pulled out of it in 2008, Abe made it his priority as soon as he returned to power in 2012, and the grouping was eventually revived in 2017.
