Blinken to hold virtual 'Quad' meeting with Australia, India, Japan

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet virtually on Thursday with his counterparts from Japan, Australia and India as part of the "Quad" group of countries, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said.

The Quad is an informal group that Washington has been promoting to work as a potential bulwark against China's increasing political, commercial and military activity in the Indo-Pacific. U.S. President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed in a telephone call last week to strengthen Indo-Pacific security through the Quad.

Japan hosted a meeting of foreign ministers from the Quad in October and the four countries the following month held their largest joint naval exercises in over a decade.