Senior officials of Quad countries hold discussions on Covid-19, India-Pacific

Senior officials of Australia and foreign ministries of India, Japan and the US held a virtual meeting on Friday to review the progress of the initiatives agreed by the ministers at the second Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting held in Tokyo on October.

The officials held discussions on respective efforts to support the region's health and economic recovery from the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, and underlined their commitment to work together to facilitate access to safe and effective Covid-19 vaccines, according to an official release by Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

The meeting also underscored commitment by the Quad partners in working together to facilitate an open, inclusive and resilient Indo-Pacific, and focused on strengthening the resilience of regional supply chains, counter disinformation and promoting quality infrastructure investment, including in the Mekong sub-region.

The countries will also coordinate together on maritime security, cyber and critical minerals, counter-terrorism, and humtarian assistance and disaster relief, said Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

With an emphasis on ASEAN centrality, the ministries underscored the principles set out in the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific in guiding the region out of the COVID-19 crisis, and commended Vietnam's chairing of ASEAN in 2020.

The Quad partners will continue regular ministerial and senior officials' consultations in 2021.

( With inputs from ANI )

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