U.S. President Joe Biden (far left) and U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blingen (second from left) hold a quad video summit with Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison at the White House in Washington on the 12th. . Washington = AFP Yonhap News
At the first summit meeting, four countries, the United States, Japan, Australia, and India, which consist of the “Quad,” a security council against China, agreed to realize the “Freely Open Indo-Pacific” initiative.
US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison held the first summit of the Quad in the form of video talks on the 12th (local time). President Biden said at this meeting that “this is the first summit of this alliance” and “the first multilateral summit meeting I am hosting.” He emphasized that “for us, a free and open Indo-Pacific is essential.”
Prime Minister Suga said, “We will make a visible contribution to the peace, stability, and prosperity of the region, including the overcoming of Corona 19, by pushing forward strongly toward the realization of the freely open Indo-Pacific.” Prime Minister Modi also said, “We are united by the values of democracy and the freely open Indo-Pacific approach.” “We will cooperate more closely than in the past to promote common values and realize safety, stability, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific. Today’s meeting suggests that the alliance of the four countries is mature and will continue to be an important pillar of regional stability in the future.”
As’free and open India-Pacific’ was repeatedly mentioned at the first quad summit in history, it was evaluated that the essential purpose of the quad was reaffirmed, called pressure on China. The “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” initiative promoted by the United States and Japan is an initiative that China is keenly aware of. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi criticized in October last year that “The Indo-Pacific strategy proposed by the United States is to build a’Indo-Pacific version of NATO’ based on four countries in the United States, Japan, India, and Australia.” The Associated Press interpreted that “the Biden administration is emphasizing the Indo-Pacific region in the context of intensifying economic competition with China.”
Jinwook Kim reporter [email protected]
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