Amid continued aggression from China, the four Quad foreign ministers — from India, Japan, US and Australia — will be meeting in Melbourne in a few days. The meeting comes at a time when the controversial Beijing Winter Olympics are underway, and India joined the United States and Australia in boycotting the games.
New Delhi’s decision comes after the Chinese announced the PLA commander, who was involved in the Galwan Valley clash with India, as the torchbearer for the games. The ministry of external affairs called the act “regrettable” and announced that its top diplomat, Charge d’Affaires of the Indian Embassy in China, will not be attending the opening or the closing ceremony of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
The US has already announced diplomatic boycott of the winter games over China’s human rights record. Australia, keeping in view trade sanctions and economic coercion against it, followed suit. A diplomatic boycott indicates that no diplomat will officially represent the country at the Olympics. Japan has also decided not to send a government delegation to Beijing but has avoided explicitly labelling the move as boycott.
The in-person meet comes over a year after the member countries last met in Japan in 2020. India’s external affairs minister Dr S Jaishankar’s visit will have a bilateral component as well, even as he meets Australian counterpart Marise Payne. Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, in a briefing on Thursday, said, “You would recall that the Quad foreign ministers last met virtually in February 2021. The next meeting is expected to be held later this month in Melbourne.”
Jaishankar will leave for Canberra on February 10 for the two-day meeting. In a statement quoted by Australian media, Payne said she looked forward to welcoming the Quad foreign ministers in the coming weeks, but did not mention the date of the meeting.
“We are a vital network of liberal democracies cooperating to give our region strategic choices, with a focus on practical steps to build resilience and sovereignty,” Payne was quoted as saying. The Prime Minister Scott Morrison-led government is making an effort to deepen Australia’s partnerships in the region amid “strategic competition, threats to liberal international order and increasing uncertainty”.
The Quad foreign ministers are expected to expedite vaccine rollout for the region and also review the Indo-Pacific situation amid China’s aggression. China has previously denounced the Quad as a “Cold War grouping”.
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