External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday held extensive discussions with his Southeast Asian counterpart Teodoro L Locsin on his first visit to the Philippines . The Foreign Ministry of the Philippines tweeted on Monday, "Minister Loxin and Minister Jaishankar are expected to discuss the current strong relationship between the Philippines and India, as well as the future direction of bilateral relations." He said that the two officials will discuss health and safety as well as other regional and global issues of mutual interest.
Earlier, Loxin welcomed Jaishankar on his arrival here for talks. Ahead of the visit, the Ministry of External Affairs had said that the two ministers would review developments in bilateral relations since the meeting of the Joint Commission on Bilateral Cooperation in November 2020. The Ministry of External Affairs said that regional and international issues of mutual interest will also be discussed. "The visit is expected to give further impetus to bilateral relations with our important partners in the Indo-Pacific, Australia and the Philippines," the ministry said.
Quad attended the meeting of countries
Jaishankar has arrived here from Australia. In Australia, he attended the Foreign Ministers' meeting of the Quad and also held bilateral talks with his counterparts from the Quad countries. In fact, S Jaishankar has reached the Philippines during his six-day foreign visit. Earlier he had gone to Australia. Here he had bilateral talks with Australian Foreign Minister Maris Payne. Also, he attended the meeting of foreign ministers of the Quad countries held in Australia.
Discussion on the Indo-Pacific
Jaishankar also had a meeting with the foreign ministers of the Quad member states – Antony Blinken of the US, Yoshimasa Hayashi of Japan and Maris Payne of Australia. All of them pledged to increase cooperation to keep the Indo-Pacific region free from 'pressure'. Without naming China, he said that criticizing the 'Quad' will not reduce its credibility. Jaishankar was on his first visit to Australia as foreign minister from February 10 to 13. After that he went to the Philippines.