NEW DELHI: The US, India, Japan and Australia launched on Tuesday a maritime surveillance initiative for the Indo-Pacific region and a series of new collaborations, as their foreign ministers gathered in New Delhi.
The meeting took place among members of the four-state strategic security alliance known as the Quad, which was established in 2007 to counter the increased regional economic and military influence of China in Asia. Together, the bloc makes up about a third of the world’s gross domestic product and nearly 2 billion people.
Under the Indo-Pacific Maritime Surveillance Collaboration, the four countries will integrate their surveillance capabilities and strengthen information sharing across the region, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at a joint press conference.
“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 percent of global maritime trade passes through the Indo-Pacific,” he told reporters.
“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.”
