Quad announces energy security initiative, support for port infrastructure in Fiji, says Australian FM Wong

New Delhi, May 26 (IANS) Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong on Tuesday announced that Quad is taking several new initiatives, including an energy security initiative, working on critical minerals, and support for port infrastructure in Fiji.

In her joint press statement along with Foreign Ministers of India, Japan and the US following the Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday, Penny Wong stated, “At every meeting that we have had, we have been focused on momentum and on making sure we deliver outcomes which are real, which are meaningful for our people and for the people of Indo-Pacific. As Minister Jaishankar has said, we recognise our obligation, our responsibility to provide real choices, particularly as strategic circumstances in our region (Indo-Pacific) are deteriorating. The region is facing acute economic stress.”

“We know the world is more unpredictable. We know economic volatility is increasing. We know the consequences for our region of the Iranian closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and what that means for our energy security, for our economies and for our people. We recognise the efforts of Secretary Rubio towards a diplomatic resolution to ensure freedom of navigation is restored and crucial energy supplies flow. We recognise the importance of maintaining the principle of freedom of navigation and our opposition to any tolling proposition. The Quad is today taking forward a number of new initiatives, the energy security initiative…and of course our continued work on critical minerals because we understand that secure and reliable supply chains are a precondition to economic and strategic stability,” she added.

Penny Wong said that the Quad nations will coordinate maritime surveillance efforts in the Indian Ocean and Exercise Malabar. She announced that the Quad nations are expanding the Domain Awareness Initiative to the Indian Ocean.

“We are also today announcing the strongest ever commitment from the Quad to the Pacific through the Quad Ports of the Future Partnership, where we are launching a pilot for port infrastructure in Fiji…In addition, we are focusing on what more we can do to ensure a transparent, more secure maritime domain in the Indo-Pacific. This is the context in which freedom of navigation and strategic stability can be operationalised, and you are seeing that we will be coordinating our maritime surveillance efforts initially in the Indian Ocean, and at Exercise Malabar through the Indo-Pacific Maritime Surveillance Collaboration Initiative, and we are also expanding the Domain Awareness Initiative to the Indian Ocean. This will enable partners to access near real-time, unclassified satellite tracking data to combat illegal fishing and trafficking, and also enable us to better support humanitarian disaster response.”

She announced that the Quad nations will work together to strengthen cooperation against scam centres, especially in Southeast Asia.

“A point I do also want to emphasise in terms of outcomes we’ve delivered to date is that we are delivering, as a collective, undersea cables to all Pacific Island Forum countries, which enhances economic opportunities. We are also working together to strengthen cooperation against scam centres, particularly in South East Asia, building law enforcement capacity and deepening cyber cooperation. These are just some of the measures, practical measures, the Quad Countries are engaged in. We know we are stronger when we work together. We know we work better in partnership across our region, and we work best by listening to the priorities of our region and delivering practical outcomes to make a difference to our people’s lives,” Wong said.

–IANS

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