NEW DELHI: India will continue to support our ASEAN partners in their efforts to uphold peace, stability, and prosperity in the region. Their centrality is important to recognize and reiterate, said External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar during the Quad meeting of foreign ministers in Melbourne on Friday.
India continues to pursue an agile and multidimensional strategy towards the Indo-Pacific through bilateral frameworks, but also cooperation with regional organisations such as ASEAN whose centrality in the Indo-Pacific region is recognized, the minister said.
He also said that since their last interaction in February of 2021, the geopolitical and geo-economic global scenario has become more complex. "As leading democracies, we pursue our shared vision of upholding a rules-based international order, free from coercion based on respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty, rule of law, transparency, freedom of navigation in the international seas, and peaceful resolution of disputes," Dr Jaishankar said.
The Quad vaccine initiative and the collective vaccine delivery have been very crucial in the Indo-Pacific for countries to meet the challenges. Steps have been taken to propagate resilient supply chains and trusted critical technologies, climate action and education linkages.
"Taking forward the Quad’s positive agenda which our leaders endorsed last year, we will take steps to strengthen our existing people-to-people linkages through education programs and think tank dialogues as we conclude this very timely and valuable interaction. We will work together to give shape and substance to the Quad’s positive agenda to make it in the words of my Prime Minister, Narendra Modi -- ‘a force for global good’," Dr Jaishankar said.
Meanwhile, Australia will invest USD 4.3 million to support relationships across the LNG supply chain between Australia, India, and Bangladesh.