By Kirsty Needham
SYDNEY (Reuters) – The foreign ministers of Australia and India said on Tuesday they were confident the Quad group of the U.S., India, Australia and Japan would continue to work together in the Indo-Pacific region regardless of the outcome of the American presidential elections.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong told reporters in Canberra that she had met Mike Pompeo, who was foreign minister in the previous Trump administration, ahead of the US election and had “a very good discussion”.
“One of the priorities we had to discuss was AUKUS, and we’re very pleased with the kind of bipartisan support we’ve seen,” she said, referring to the defense technology partnership between Australia, Britain and the US to build nuclear-powered submarines to transfer. to Australia.
Australia’s most expensive defense project, the AUKUS deal, was concluded in 2023 under the Biden administration.
“As far as the American elections are concerned, we will work with whoever the American people choose,” she said.
China objects to the Quad grouping in a bid to contain it, while Australia, Japan, India and the US say they are like-minded democracies seeking to strengthen stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
Quad leaders agreed in September to establish joint coast guard patrols and intensify military logistics cooperation.
The Quad was “very valuable” in the region, Wong said. “We see it retaining its importance regardless of the outcome of the election,” she added.
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said the Quad was revived under Trump’s presidency in 2017.
“As we look at the US elections, we are confident that whatever the verdict, our relationship with the United States will only grow,” he said during an official visit to Australia.
(Reporting by Kirsty Needham in Sydney; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)