Quad members will also discuss threats to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. (File)
Melbourne:
Climate change, COVID-19 and China’s “coercion” in the Indo-Pacific will be at the top of the agenda as the foreign ministers of the Quartet – an informal grouping of Australia, India, Japan and the United States – convened in Melbourne on Friday, but the discussions will also expand into an escalating crisis between the West and Russia over Ukraine.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Australia this week as Washington grapples with a dangerous position with Moscow, which has massed some 100,000 troops near the Ukrainian border and raised fears in the West of an invasion. Russia denies it has such a plan.
The Biden administration wants to show the world that its long-term strategic focus remains in the Asia-Pacific and that a major foreign policy crisis in one region of the world does not distract it from its priorities. main precedent.
Speaking at the start of a bilateral meeting with Blinken, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said that in addition to cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, climate change and COVID-19 related issues, the two diplomats The top will also discuss China, North Korea and Ukraine. .
She said: “More than one dictatorship is presenting itself in the current world context as a challenge. North Korea, China and they will be part of our discussions. We strongly support U.S. leadership on these challenges.”
“I am sure that we will talk today about threats to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” she added.
Britain said the “most dangerous moment” in the West’s confrontation with Moscow was imminent, as Russia held military exercises in Belarus and the Black Sea after its forces were reinforced near Ukraine.
On Thursday, Blinken said Washington is working “24/7” on the Ukraine crisis but reaffirmed the US focus on the Indo-Pacific – an area he says will be instrumental in defining the Ukraine crisis. shape much of the 21st century. “It’s important that we’re present, that we’re engaged, and that we’re leading in this region.
Both Blinken and Payne said a key element of the Quad discussion would focus on establishing a regional environment free from “coercion”, a thinly veiled move to economic and military ambitions. Beijing’s growing expansion in the Indo-Pacific.
Payne told parliament the Quad’s cooperation on the region’s Covid response was “most important”, with cybersecurity and maritime, infrastructure, climate action and disaster relief – in particular. is after the recent eruption of the Tonga volcano – also in focus.
Speaking to reporters on the plane en route to Melbourne, Blinken described the Quad as a “powerful mechanism” to deliver vaccines worldwide as well as repel “aggression and coercion” in India. Do Duong – Pacific without naming China.
Ministers will work to advance those goals but are unlikely to announce new commitments, having to wait until a Quad leaders summit in Japan in May that President Joe Biden is due to attend. expected to attend.
Blinken’s trip comes days after China and Russia announced last week their “unlimited” strategic partnership, their most assertive and detailed declaration to work together – and against the United States – to build a new international order based on their own understanding of human rights and democracy. .
US-China relations are at their lowest point in decades as the world’s top two economies disagree on issues ranging from Hong Kong and Taiwan to the South China Sea and China’s treatment of ethnic minorities. Islamic.
Biden told Asian leaders in October that the United States would launch negotiations on a new Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. But few details have been released, and his administration has grudgingly given its desire to increase market access desired by Asian countries, seeing it as threatening American jobs.
Critics say the lack of US economic engagement is a major weakness in Biden’s approach to the region, where China remains the top trading partner of many Indo-Thai nations. Binh Duong.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and was automatically generated from the feed provided.)
