Shared concerns over China’s moves in both the Indian Ocean Region and the Pacific Island countries, as well as the situation in Sri Lanka, came up during the Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) of Quad countries, that ended on Tuesday in Delhi, diplomatic sources told The Hindu. The meeting, which reviewed projects agreed to by leaders of Australia, India, Japan and the U.S. during the Quad Summit in Tokyo this year, and set the course for a Ministerial-level meeting of the four countries, due to be held in India next year, also held discussions on Quad proposals like the vaccine initiative that has run into trouble over the past year, as well as cooperation on emerging technologies, infrastructure funding for Indo-Pacific countries. and projects to counter climate change in vulnerable regions.
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in a tweet that the officials discussed: “regional & global developments, reaffirming their vision for a free, open & inclusive Indo-Pacific”.
Meanwhile, both S. Jaishankar and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong addressed the Delhi-based Australia-India Leadership Dialogue, an annual conference run by the Australia India Institute (AII), via video messages on Tuesday.
