The informal Quad grouping in the strategically vital Indo-Pacific region comprising Australia, India, Japan and the US fills a "very important gap" that has emerged in contemporary times and New Delhi has clarity on its membership in it, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said.
The Quad aims at strengthening a rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific amid China's aggressive actions in the region.
“Quad today fills a very important gap that has emerged in contemporary times, where there are global or regional requirements, which cannot be filled by a single country. It cannot even be filled by one bilateral relationship, and which is not being addressed at the multilateral level,” he told a group of Indian journalists as he concluded most of his meetings here on Friday.
Jaishankar, who is on an official trip to the US, is the first Indian Cabinet minister to visit the country since Joe Biden became the President on January 20. He asserted that India has clarity on its membership to Quad, adding that he had been personally involved with its progress over the past several years, including when he was India's foreign secretary.
“We are members of Quad. When we are members of anything, we are very keen about it, we won't be its members. We have clarity on the Quad,” Jaishankar underlined.
