15.11.17

Quadrilateral to work for open Indo-Pacific zone

India, the US, Japan and Australia resurrected their “quadrilateral” grouping from the ashes and gave a thumbs up for a “free, open, prosperous and inclusive Indo-Pacific region” after the first meeting of officials on the sidelines of the Asean summit in Manila on Sunday.

The “Quad” meeting came even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump met for a few minutes as they arrived for the gala dinner hosted by the Philippines. Modi and Trump will hold a bilateral meeting on Monday afternoon.

PM Modi was also seen chatting with Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Malaysian PM Najib Razak, among others.

As a first effort, the Quadrilateral exercise was quite successful, sources said. “The discussions focused on cooperation based on their converging vision and values for promotion of peace, stability and prosperity in an increasingly inter-connected region that they share with each other and with other partners,” the MEA spokesperson said.

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