Quad officials discuss China concerns in the Indo-Pacific, Quad vaccine initiative

Shared concerns over China’s moves in both the Indian Ocean Region and the Pacific Island countries, as well as the situation in Sri Lanka, came up during the Senior Officials Meeting of Quad countries, that ended on Tuesday in Delhi, diplomatic sources told The Hindu. The meeting, which reviewed projects agreed to by leaders of Australia, India, Japan and the U.S. during the Quad Summit in Tokyo this year, and set the course for a Ministerial-level meeting of the four countries, due to be held in India next year, also held discussions on Quad proposals like the vaccine initiative that has run into trouble over the past year, as well as cooperation on emerging technologies, infrastructure funding for Indo-Pacific countries. Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in a tweet that the officials discussed: “regional & global developments, reaffirming their vision for a free, open & inclusive Indo-Pacific”. The Quad SOM that took place on Monday and Tuesday was hosted by the MEA Joint Secretary Vani Rao, and attended by delegations led by the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Donald Lu; Japan’s Deputy Minister for Foreign Policy Keiichi Ichikawa; and Australia’s Deputy Secretary of the geostrategic group, who oversees the Indo-Pacific strategy division in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Justin Hayhurst. “Through these dialogues, US and India will advance an ambitious set of initiatives across our defense partnership in support of information-sharing, logistics, technology, and high-end Navy cooperation,” said the U.S. Department of Defense, announcing the India-U.S. meeting in Delhi on Wednesday, which would be co-chaired by U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs, Ely Ratner.