India‘s Ambassador to the United States Vinay Mohan Kwatra. File
| Photo Credit: ANI
India’s Ambassador to the United States Vinay Mohan Kwatra said cooperation between the countries of the Indo-Pacific has been very robust and cited the recent decision of the Quad grouping to start a maritime surveillance initiative for the region.Participating in a panel discussion at the Center for New American Security on Thursday (June 11, 2026), Mr. Kwatra also said he was very optimistic about the India-U.S. partnership in building reliable supply chains.“The key thing is the empirical things — the real things you do on the ground—which benefit the countries. I think that’s far more important than just building a narrative,” Mr. Kwatra said.He said the economic centre of the world, to a large extent, has shifted to the Indo-Pacific region given the rise of China, India and the ASEAN group of nations.The COVID-19 pandemic gave the world a reality check on the challenges posed by product and supply chain concentration in foreign geographies, the envoy said at the discussion titled ‘Contested Waters: A New Security Vision for the Indo-Pacific’.He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) in 2019 to work with regional partners to mitigate challenges and amplify opportunities in the region, achieving commendable results.Mr. Kwatra said the Quad group of nations also agreed to act in the maritime domain, which led to the formation of the Indo-Pacific Maritime Surveillance initiative. He also highlighted the U.S. Pax Silica initiative to secure silicon-based supply chains with partner nations.“I would say that the empirical evidence of what the countries of the Indo-Pacific have been doing among themselves is very robust. It is very strong, and that points to the real cooperation that is actually happening on the ground,” Mr. Kwatra said. Published - June 12, 2026 04:16 pm IST
