Indian Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar (first, left), Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne (second, left), US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (third, left), Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi (first, right) and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga (second, right), Tokyo, October 6, 2020 (Photo: AFP/VNA)
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During the envisioned meeting, the participants are expected to discuss cooperation for the realization of a "free and open Indo-Pacific."
The move comes as the new administration of US President Joe Biden appears eager to build on renewed attention to the grouping of the four major Indo-Pacific democracies, with his National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan calling it "a foundation upon which to build substantial American policy in the Indo-Pacific."
The US, Japan, Australia, and India, known as the QUAD Group, pledged to expand cooperation to realize a free and open Indo-Pacific based on international law when they met in Tokyo last October.