New Delhi: On March 3, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong lauded India as a “critical, great power” and said the country’s civilisation prowess brought a fresh perspective on dealing with current issues.
Wong took part in the Quad Foreign Ministers’ meeting, which was held concurrently with the Raisina Dialogue 2023 in Delhi under the chairmanship of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken were the other participants who attended the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) grouping meeting.
“India is a critical power, great power in the region that there is no reshaping of the Indo-Pacific without India. We’ve seen that India is a civilisational power that brings a different perspective to some of the challenges of these time,” Wong responded to Samir Saran, the President of the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), on Australia’s assessment of India’s growth.
Saran moderated the discussion on “The Quad Squad: Power and Purpose of the Polygon.”
Wong also explained how Quad could be a complimentary actor in Indo-Pacific.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said, “The complementarity of this configuration with the architecture of the region, I think is demonstrated from the Australian perspective by our geography and by our interest”.
Wong said that in terms of geography, Australia is the southernmost and smallest economy in the world. It is bordered on one side by the Pacific Ocean and on the other by ASEAN, notably the northern ASEAN nations.
“So for us, our interest lies in a world which is being reshaped, the region which is being reshaped — looking through this and the architecture of the region which I describe stable, peaceful, secure and respect the sovereignty. So our geography and our interest lead to a complementarity. I also believe there is tangible complementarity in the sense that there are things we engage — Pacific Islands nations, and countries of the ASEAN region and they are all aligned with our interest in economic involvement, prosperity, stability and protection of sovereignty,” said Penny Wong.
The Raisina Dialogue 2023 was held in Delhi and was organised by the Ministry of External Affairs and the ORF. Jaishankar, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, and others attended.
Earlier, Blinken recognised that the Indo-Pacific region would shape the trajectory of the world in the 21st century.
“Good to break bread with my Quad colleagues in New Delhi today. Together, we recognise the Indo-Pacific region will shape the trajectory of the world in the 21st century and are committed to safeguarding its peace, stability, and growing prosperity,” tweeted Blinken ahead of the Quad meeting.
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