· The Quad grouping is one of the many avenues for interaction among India, Australia, Japan and the U.S. and should not be seen in an exclusive context.
· There are various modalities where India, Australia, Japan and the U.S. interact, including on a bilateral and trilateral basis…,” said Hideki Asari, Minister and Deputy Chief of Mission of the Embassy of Japan.
· He was speaking at the launch of a report on the policy recommendations on Indian Ocean security by four think tanks from the Quad countries at the Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF).
· The other think tanks, which include Australia National University, Sasakawa Peace Foundation, Japan and Sasakawa Peace Foundation, USA, along with VIF formed the Quadripartite Commission on Indian Ocean Regional Security, which put out a series of 20 policy recommendations for stability in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
· One of the recommendations is that the four countries should work to oppose “the establishment of permanent Chinese military bases” in the IOR and demonstrate to China that security needs can be met through cooperation with other nations.
Source : The Hindu