NEW DELHI: India, Australia and Japan today stressed on a rule-based order in the Indo-Pacific and decided to enhance cooperation in the area of maritime security, amidst increasing Chinese assertiveness in the region.
Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar hosted the 4th India- Australia-Japan Trilateral Dialogue and held talks with Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Secretary Frances Adamson and Japanese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Shinsuke J Sugiyama, the External Affairs Ministry said.
During the talks, the three sides underscored their support for the centrality of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the political and security architecture of the Indo-Pacific region.
The meeting of the top diplomats of the three countries comes less than a month after leaders from India, the US, Australia and Japan held the first ‘Quad’ talks in Manila on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit.
The Quad is viewed by many countries as a coalition to counter China in the region that has witnessed its assertiveness over maritime territorial claims especially in the South China Sea and East China Sea. (AGENCIES)
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