Relevance of Quad set to grow: EAM Jaishankar
Jaishankar on Saturday said he is confident that the relevance of the Quad grouping would grow and it would become a bigger factor in the larger regional, and beyond the region, politics and policy. Jaishankar's remarks came during a fireside chat with his Australian counterpart Penny Wong at the Indian Ocean Conference.
Jaishankar is here to attend the two-day conference.
Speaking about the Quad or Quadrilateral Security Dialogue comprising India, the US, Japan and Australia, Jaishankar said the grouping is the outcome of the changing capabilities of the major powers and the implications that it has for all of the world.
The Quad was set up in 2017 to counter China's aggressive behaviour in the Indo-Pacific region.
«It also reflects three very important relationships for us with Australia, the US and Japan, which had transformed after the end of the Cold War,» Jaishankar said.
These four countries are located at four corners of this maritime space and bring a certain perspective to the table, he said.
«I am sort of pretty confidently predict that the relevance of the Quad would grow and it would become a bigger factor in the larger regional and beyond the region politics and policy,» Jaishankar added.
Jaishankar also spoke about India's partnership with Indian Ocean countries.
«The challenge today is to reconstruct and reconnect the Indian Ocean,» he said.
«You are going to see an India which will be much more deeply engaged in and much more deeply invested in the Indian Ocean...Our goal should be how to
