At the Quad meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said India remains committed to rule-based world order, respect for territorial integrity, sovereignty and peaceful resolution of disputes. His comments come amid growing global concern over China’s expansionist behaviour.

Jaishankar in his opening remarks said advancing security and economic interests of all countries having legitimate and vital interests in the Indo-Pacific remained a key priority. The Quad meeting of countries comprising India, the US, Japan and Australia was held in the Japanese capital in the backdrop of China’s aggressive military intervention in India’s eastern Ladakh along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), in the Indo-Pacific and the South China Sea.

The meeting is also being attended by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Japan’s Toshimitsu Motegi.

“As vibrant and pluralistic democracies with shared values, our nations have collectively affirmed the importance of maintaining a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific,” Jaishankar said.

“We remain committed to upholding the rules-based international order, underpinned by the rule of law, transparency, freedom of navigation in the international seas, respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty, and peaceful resolution of disputes,” he said.

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The evolving situation in the Indo-Pacific region in the wake of China’s increasing military muscle-flexing has become a major talking point among leading global powers in the last few years with the US pushing for a greater role for India in the region. America has also been favouring making Quad a security architecture to check China’s growing assertiveness.

In his address, Jaishankar also said that it was a matter of satisfaction that the Indo-Pacific concept has gained increasingly wider acceptance.

On the sidelines of the Quad meeting, the external affairs minister held bilateral talks with Pompeo which focused on the evolving security scenario in India, ways to ensure stability in the Indo-Pacific region, and various aspects of bilateral ties.

“Our objective remains advancing the security and the economic interests of all countries having legitimate and vital interests in the region,” he said.

At the Quad meeting, Jaishankar also referred to COVID-19 and said the events of this year have clearly demonstrated how imperative it is for like-minded countries to coordinate responses to the various challenges that the pandemic has brought to the fore.

“As we collectively navigate these uncharted waters, we seek to emerge from the pandemic more resilient than ever before,” he said. “You are all aware that India assumes membership of the UN Security Council next year. We look forward to seeking collective solutions to global challenges, including global recovery from the pandemic and reform of multilateral institutions,” he added.

Jaishankar also mentioned key issues such as connectivity, infrastructure development, security including counter-terrorism; cyber and maritime security.

In November 2017, the four countries gave shape to the long-pending proposal of setting up the “Quad” to develop a new strategy to keep the critical sea routes in the Indo-Pacific free of any influence. The first meeting of foreign ministers of the four countries under the ‘Quad’ framework had taken place in New York in September 2019.