Blinken, Jaishankar exchange pleasantries before 4th Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Melbourne

Melbourne [Australia], February 11 (ANI): US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday exchanged pleasantries before the 4th Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Melbourne.
Both leaders complemented each other for a "grateful partnership" between the US and India during the COVID-19 pandemic and said that Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) is an "opportunity and the excuse to be able to compare notes directly on the many challenges both countries are dealing together."
"Very good to see you again. As always, I am glad that Quad meetings have brought us together but also given us the opportunity and the excuse to be able to compare notes directly on the many the challenges we are dealing with together, the United States and India," said Blinken.
"I am just grateful for our partnership, especially at a time of so much challenge. I am grateful for India's leadership on so many issues, including the thing that is literally plaguing the world, and that's COVID-19. We will have an opportunity to talk about that as well as many both shared concerns, and also some opportunities in this region as a whole," added Blinken.
The US State Secretary further said that the 4th Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Melbourne is an "opportunity for us to see each other and looking forward to getting together with our colleagues as well in a couple of hours."
Responding to the comments, Jaishankar laid stress on the strong bilateral relationships between the two countries.
"Good to see you, and good to see you all. I agree with you. I think the Quad has been .... and much of that is due to the fact that we all devoted a lot of time, energy, attention to that. We have made it into concrete actionable propositions. At the same time, a big part of that is because we have such strong bilateral relationships. And certainly for us in this century, the changing India-US relationship has been very defining," said Jaishankar.
"A review of our bilateral cooperation with @SecBlinken. The readout on progress in different domains was positive. Our strategic partnership has deepened so visibly," Jaishankar tweeted.
"Good meeting with Indian External Affairs Minister @DrSJaishankar to discuss efforts to strengthen #IndoPacific cooperation bilaterally and through the Quad. I look forward to working together on issues that affect our two countries," Blinken tweeted.
The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) is a partnership of four nations (Australia, India, Japan and the US) each of whom share a commitment to openness, transparency and challenges coming out of the current global order.
This is the first time Quad Foreign Ministers are meeting since the two Quad Summits last year. (ANI)