Officials from Quad countries review progress made since May 2023 summit

Senior officials from Quad member countries have reviewed the progress made by various Quad Working Groups in achieving the commitments made at the grouping's summit in May 2023, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Thursday.

The officials, who met through video conference on Wednesday, also discussed new ideas to further the grouping's collaboration in delivering public good in the Indo-Pacific region in areas such as health security, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, climate resilience, and countering terrorism, the ministry said in a statement.

Senior officials from the Ministry of External Affairs of India, Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade of Australia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan and Department of State of the US met to review the progress made by various Quad Working Groups in achieving the commitments made at the May 2023 Quad Leaders' Summit, it said.

"They also discussed new ideas to further the Quad's collaboration in delivering public goods in the Indo-Pacific region in areas such as health security, digital public infrastructure, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR), climate resilience, enhancing maritime domain awareness, countering terrorism and enhancing telecommunication resiliency through undersea cable connectivity," it said.

The meeting also provided an opportunity for the officials to exchange views on important regional and international issues of mutual interest.

"They underscored the Quad's commitment to a free, open, inclusive and resilient Indo-Pacific and reaffirmed the centrality of regional institutions, including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), and the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA)," the statement said.

The meeting was led by K Nagaraj Naidu, Joint Secretary (Americas) from the MEA; Elly Lawson, Deputy Secretary (Strategic Planning and Coordination Group), from Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia; Fujimoto Kentaro, Ambassador in charge of Quad cooperation/Deputy Director-General of Foreign Policy Bureau, from Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan; and Daniel Kritenbrink, Assistant Secretary (East Asian and Pacific Affairs) and Donald Lu, Assistant Secretary (South and Central Asian Affairs), from US Department of State, the statement said.

The officials look forward to continuing regular consultations in the lead up to the next Quad Leaders' Summit to be hosted by India, it added.

During a panel discussion at a conclave here in March, US envoy Eric Garcetti had said that the Quad is really a reflection of the "shared interests" of having a peaceful, democratic, just, open and accountable Indo-Pacific while underlining that its member country India is in many ways "in the driver's seat" of the grouping.

Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, commonly described as Quad, comprises India, the US, Japan and Australia and it has unveiled a series of initiatives in the last few years with a broad aim to ensure peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region. China believes the coalition is aimed at containing it.