US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday said Quad grouping is becoming a powerful mechanism for strengthening maritime security to push back against aggression and coercion in the Indo-Pacific region.
Blinken on Tuesday departed for his trip to the Indo-Pacific region for the Quad Foreign Ministers Ministerial Meeting in Australia and to attend other events and bilaterals in Fiji and Hawaii.
"We'll be first and foremost meeting with the Quad countries - Australia, Japan, India, the United States - following up on the leader level summit, the first-ever that the President had, and pursuing the work that I think is vital to the interests of Americans but also people throughout the region and around the world," Blinken said before departing.
"The Quad is becoming a powerful mechanism for delivering, helping to vaccinate a big part of the world and getting a lot of vaccines out there, strengthening maritime security to push back against aggression and coercion in the Indo-Pacific region, working together on emerging technologies and making sure that they can be used in positive ways not negative ways, and an increasingly broad and deep agenda," he added.
Separately in a tweet, Blinken said he is looking forward to productive meetings with leaders and communities to promote their shared values.
"Departing Washington for an important trip to the Indo-Pacific region. Looking forward to productive meetings with leaders and communities to promote our shared values and advance our goals," said Blinken in a tweet on Tuesday.
"With our Quad partners, we are delivering results for our populations and the region, including by advancing cooperation on COVID-19 vaccination delivery, humanitarian assistance/disaster relief, maritime security, counter-terrorism, cybersecurity, countering disinformation, climate change, and critical and emerging technologies," the US State Department had said in an earlier statement.
Blinken will meet with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Foreign Minister Payne, Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Hayashi Yoshimasa, External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, and other senior officials to discuss a range of bilateral and global priorities.
The US Secretary of State will also engage with students, scholars, and technology leaders in Melbourne, according to the statement.
( With inputs from ANI )
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