Quad became robust mechanism against aggression: Blinken

Washington: The Quad teaming of India, the US, Japan and Australia is becoming a powerful mechanism that strengthens maritime security to counter aggression and coercion in the Indo Pacific region, US Secretary of the State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday. He has left for Indo Pacific region on the day for the Quad Foreign Ministers Ministerial Meetin in Australia, Asian News International reported.

Before his trip, he said that as a follow up to the leader level summit, the foreign ministers of the Quad will meet. The Quad is vital to the interests of Americans as well as all the people in the Indo-Pacific region and worldwide. It had worked on pandemic vaccination drive, delivery of vaccines, worked together on emerging technologies and made sure that these technologies were used for positive gains, which is a broad and deep agenda, he said.

He also tweeted that he is looking forward to productive meetings with leaders as well as communities to promote values and advance goals.

In an earlier statement, the US State Department said that Quad had delivered their population humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, counter-terrorism, cybersecurity, as well as measures against disinformation, climate change etc.

Antony Blinken will meet Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Foreign Minister Payne, Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Hayashi Yoshimasa, Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and other officials for talks regarding subjects of bilateral and global concern.

The State Department statement said that Blinken would interact with students, scholars, and technology leaders in Melbourne.