Senior officials of the four members of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or Quad on Thursday discussed ways to take forward cooperation in areas such as infrastructure, maritime security and humanitarian aid in order to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific.
The virtual meeting of officials from India, Australia, Japan and the US also reviewed progress in key areas such as the Quad vaccine partnership, critical and emerging technologies and climate change. During the grouping’s first summit in March, the Quad decided to set up working groups focused on these three areas.
Thursday’s meeting was a follow-up to the meeting of foreign ministers on February 18 and the virtual Quad leaders summit on March 12. The external affairs ministry said the officials discussed the wide-ranging impact of Covid-19 in the Indo-Pacific and the importance of collaborative efforts to contain the pandemic and ensure health security and a quick economic recovery.
The officials explored the possibility of collaboration in resilient supply chains, emerging and critical technologies, maritime security, cyber security, counter-terrorism, infrastructure and connectivity, higher education, climate change and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, the ministry added.