On Friday, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar attended the Quad countries’ Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Melbourne, Australia. He also had separate meetings with Australia’s Defense Minister and the United States’ and Japan’s Foreign Ministers. Jaishankar is making his first trip to Australia as foreign minister. With his Australian counterpart Maris Paine, he will chair the 12th India-Australia Foreign Ministers Framework Dialogue on February 12.

In a meeting with Australian Defense Minister Peter Dutton last year, Jaishankar carried forward the two-plus-two talks from the previous year. Defense and security, he said, are the two main pillars of India-Australia cooperation. Jaishankar met Alex Hawke, Minister of Immigration, Citizenship, Overseas Services, and Multicultural Affairs, at the same time. During this time, the two leaders talked about how to strengthen the two countries’ ties in terms of talent, dynamism, and globalisation.

Meetings with the foreign ministers of the United States and Japan are also planned.

Jaishankar also met with Antony Blinken, his American counterpart. The two leaders discussed bilateral relations and agreed that progress has been made in various areas between India and the United States. In his meeting with Jaishankar, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi discussed a variety of bilateral and global issues of mutual interest. The three leaders have come to attend an important meeting of the Quad countries’ foreign ministers, which will be held here.

India, America, Australia, and Japan make up the ‘Quad’ countries. It was established to address the Indo-Pacific region’s needs. To ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific region, the four countries have placed a strong emphasis on quality infrastructure, maritime security, counter-terrorism, and increased regional cooperation. This will be the third face-to-face meeting of these countries’ foreign ministers. The first meeting took place in September 2019 and the second will take place in October 2020.

North Korea’s missile launch has been condemned by four world leaders.

Following the Quad foreign ministers, the four leaders issued a joint statement. North Korea’s launch of a destabilising ballistic missile in violation of a UN Security Council resolution has been condemned by the four countries (UNSCR). “We reaffirm our commitment to the complete denuclearization of North Korea in accordance with the UNSCR,” the four foreign ministers said in a joint statement.