External affairs minister (EAM) S Jaishankar will take part in the fourth Quad foreign ministers' meeting in Australia's Melbourne on Friday along with his counterparts from Japan, Australia and the United States. He had left for Australia on a three-day visit from Thursday (February 10) till Sunday (February 13).
According to a statement issued by the ministry of external affairs (MEA) on Wednesday, this will be Jaishankar's first visit to Australia as the EAM. It is also the first-high level visit to Australia from India after the borders were opened amid an improvement in the Covid-19 pandemic situation.
“It will be an opportunity for the ministers to follow up on their virtual meeting held in February 2021 and exchange views on regional strategic issues given their shared vision of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region,” the MEA statement said.
It added that the foreign ministers of the four countries will also review the ongoing Quad cooperation and build on the positive and constructive agenda announced by the Leaders at the two Summits last year, to address contemporary challenges such as climate change, Covid-19, supply chains among others.