Secretary of State John Blinken plans to hold a video conference with the foreign ministers of Japan, Australia and India early Thursday morning (Feb. 18, 2021), signaling that the United States plans to continue the quadripartite mechanism to address major challenges in the Indo-Pacific region under the new Biden administration.
According to the State Department’s principal officials’ schedule released Wednesday, Blinken plans to hold a quadripartite meeting with the three foreign ministers at 7 a.m. Thursday that will be closed to the media.
State Department spokesman Price said at a regular press conference Wednesday that “the quadripartite mechanism is critical to our shared goal of advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific region and to our response to the great challenges of our Time.”
Earlier this month, President Biden also agreed during a call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the two sides would continue to work closely together to advance a free and open Indo-Pacific region, including by supporting freedom of navigation, territorial integrity, and a stronger regional security mechanism through the Quadripartite mechanism.
The former Trump administration saw India as a key ally in dealing with the Chinese challenge and during his tenure introduced a new concept of a free and open Indo-Pacific region, revitalizing the Quadripartite talks between the United States, Japan, Australia and India and extending the mechanism to the security arena in response to China’s increasingly aggressive foreign expansion.
The quadripartite foreign ministers’ meeting Thursday and an earlier call between U.S. and Indian leaders suggest that the new administration will continue some of the strategies and approaches used by the previous administration in dealing with China’s security threats, particularly by uniting the efforts of regional allies and partners, including India, to counter the Chinese challenge.
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