Looks forward to increase cooperation for free, open Indian Pacific: Pompeo ahead of Quad talks

Ahead of Quad foreign ministers' talks, US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, on Sunday (local time) said he looks forward to discussing increased cooperation to promote their shared vision for a free and open Indian Pacific.

Ahead of Quad foreign ministers' talks, US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, on Sunday (local time) said he looks forward to discussing increased cooperation to promote their shared vision for a free and open Indian Pacific. "Wheels up for my visit to Japan. Looking forward to discussing increased cooperation to promote our shared vision for a free and open #IndoPacific, composed of nations that are independent, strong, and prosperous," Pompeo wrote on Twiter.

Pompeo is on a three-day visit to Japan to attend the ministerial meeting of Quad members -- the US, Japan, Australia, and India. Ministry of External Affairs has also confirmed that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will participate in the foreign ministers' meeting of the Quadrilateral grouping on October 6 during his visit to Japan.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said during the regular media briefing that the agenda will be broadly focused on the post-COVID-19 international order as well as the need for coordinating responses to the challenges emerging from the pandemic. This grouping is seen as a response to China's growing military assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region. It will be the first meeting of Quad foreign ministers amid border tensions between India and China.

A meeting of Quad leaders was held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly last year. The Quad meeting is expected to focus on strategic and security challenges in the region and joint strategy is likely to be discussed.

India- Pacific region is largely viewed as an area comprising the Indian Ocean and the western and central Pacific Ocean, including the South China Sea. China's territorial claims in the South China Sea and its efforts to advance into the Indian Ocean are seen to have challenged the established rules-based system.

Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan have counterclaims in the South China Sea. Beijing's rising assertiveness against counter claimants in the East and South Sea has resulted in unprecedented agreement across the Indian-Pacific.

According to the Nikkei Asian Review, several concerned nations are already deepening security ties with each other and the US to mitigate the threat. In recent years, Japan has expressed increasing concerns regarding Beijing's activities in the region especially concerning the situation with the disputed Senkaku islands, known in China as the Diaoyudao islands, and claimed by Beijing to be Chinese territory. (ANI)

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