Foreign Ministers and the respective national security advisors (NSAs) of the QUAD comprising India, Japan, Australia and the United States (US) are planning to meet in the month of September and October due to the overtly aggressive moves by China in the Indo-Pacific region, the Economic Times reported.
This is a major geopolitical development the QUAD is planning back-to-back and in-person meetings of the representatives ahead of the US’ presidential elections which are scheduled to be held in November.
“However, no final call has been taken yet even as preparations for the summits are underway”, states the report.
On Friday (August 28), US’ NSA Robert O’Brien had revealed that talks on security with India, Australia and Japan are being planned in September and October. India’s NSA Ajit Doval is expected to travel to Hawaii in October to meet his counterpart as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is set to meet Foreign Minister S Jaishankar in September.
O’Brien went on to assert, “We’re seeing a very assertive, a very aggressive China and the US is not going to back down from its long-held principles that the world’s ocean ways and international waters should be free for navigation, and the same with space and with air rights and international airspace.”