Jaishankar meets Australian FM Penny Wong; discusses bilateral ties & cooperation across Indo-Pacific

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday met his Australian counterpart Penny Wong and discussed steps to intensify bilateral ties, including in security, trade and education, and deepening practical cooperation across the Indo-Pacific.

Jaishankar and Wong are in Tokyo to attend a meeting of foreign ministers of the four-nation grouping Quad or Quadrilateral coalition.

"A great start this morning meeting Australian FM @SenatorWong in Tokyo," Jaishankar said in a post on X.

"Spoke about further steps to intensify our bilateral ties including in security, trade and education. Also discussed deepening our practical cooperation across the Indo-Pacific. Look forward to continuing this at the Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting shortly," he said.

Australia, India, Japan, and the United States are members of the Quad.

In November 2017, the four nations gave shape to the long-pending proposal of setting up the Quad to develop a new strategy to keep the critical sea routes in the Indo-Pacific free of any influence.

On Sunday, Jaishankar held "wide-ranging" talks with his American counterpart Antony Blinken against the backdrop of an unease in India-US ties following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Russia three weeks back.

Earlier in the day he also unveiled a bust of Mahatma Gandhi at Freedom Plaza in Edogawa, Tokyo.

Jaishankar arrived in Japan on Sunday from Laos for a two-day visit for the Quad Foreign Ministers' meeting.