New Delhi, May 26 (SocialNews.XYZ) US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday emphasised the economic and strategic importance of the Quad, stating that the member states, which are "vibrant democracies", represent a third of the world's GDP and share strong values.
Addressing a joint press statement, along with Foreign Ministers of India, Australia and Japan, Rubio announced Quad initiatives on maritime security, port infrastructure and energy security.
He said, "To Ministers Jaishankar, Wong, and Motegi, thank you for this very productive discussion and the work that our teams have been doing leading up to this, as we continue to build out this partnership into something that is a partnership of action."
"On the stage today are represented countries that collectively are about a third of the world's GDP, and almost 2 billion people. And these aren't just countries that have economic reach, a third of the world's GDP, 2 billion people, but countries that share strong values, strong, vibrant democracies, who also are committed to many of the same concepts with regards to economic development and have many aligned interests in those fields as well."
"Sixteen months ago when I became Secretary of State and we began our conversations, we all agreed that we wanted this gathering, this partnership, to be more than just a place where we got together every now and then and discussed the problems of the world that we held in common," he said, adding that the goal is to turn the Quad in a "place of action".
"And I'm very happy today that as a result of the work that our teams have been doing leading up to this conversation today, we have real concrete achievables that we can announce to our respective countries and to the world," he added.
Rubio announced the Indo-Pacific Maritime Surveillance Cooperation initiative and the expansion of the Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness initiative. He thanked India for committing to hosting the next iteration of the Quad at Sea mission.
"On the issue of maritime security, there are two big announcements. The first is the launch of the Indo-Pacific Maritime Surveillance Cooperation initiative, which is going to leverage each of our countries' maritime surveillance capabilities in the Indo-Pacific to enhance information sharing. Related to that is also the expansion of the Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness initiative, which provides and can provide near real-time commercial maritime domain awareness data to countries throughout the Indo-Pacific," he stated.
"And last, I also want to thank India for committing to hosting the next iteration of the Quad at Sea mission, which brings together our respective coast guards, together in one place on one ship and the reason why maritime security is so important. Beyond the fact that current events remind us of what can happen when maritime security is impeded, is the fact that 60 per cent of global maritime trade passes through the Indo-Pacific, and it's a vital national interest, not just to the four countries represented here today, but to dozens and dozens of countries, countless countries around the world," he added.
He announced that the Quad nations will work together on issues of port infrastructure. He announced that the Quad nations plan to work with Fiji to advance the country's port infrastructure.
"The third topic, which we hear a lot about these days, that we'll have some deliverables on today, is the issue of critical minerals. We'll announce the Quad Critical Minerals Framework, which will guide each of us to leverage economic policy tools and coordinate investment to strengthen critical mineral supply chains, including in mining and processing and in critical minerals recycling," the US Secretary of State said.
Rubio announced the Quad Initiative on Indo-Pacific Energy Security to strengthen regional energy resilience. He stated that the US will host the Quad nations for a fuel security forum later this year.
On energy and fuel security, he said that the member states will be announcing the Quad Initiative on Indo-Pacific Energy Security that will help strengthen regional energy resilience. Through this initiative, he said that the partners will work to identify areas of cooperation in technology, in management and policy, in international market analysis and emergency response exercises.
"We'll be releasing a stand-alone statement on this initiative, and the Department of Energy from the United States will be hosting Quad partners later this year for a fuel security forum to further expand on this. So, we are beginning to show real achievements and real accomplishments," Rubio said.
"We are deeply committed to this partnership. It is a linchpin and a cornerstone of our global strategy as a nation in the United States. That's why we're so happy to be here today, and that's why we're excited about the initiatives that we're announcing, and we're even more excited about the initiatives we're going to be working together as these take life and new opportunities present themselves," he added.
Source: IANS
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