The four world leaders discussed issues related to Indo-Pacific, including vaccine distribution, cyber and critical technology, countering disinformation, counterterrorism, maritime security, humanitarian and disaster response, and climate change.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the traditional regional security issues have brought the Quad countries together.
"We live in a very fragile, fragmented and contested world that is no more extenuated than here in the Indo-Pacific," he said after the meeting.
"I am reassured by the incredible, strong support that Australia has received by our Quad partners," Mr Morrison said.
Highlights:
- Indian Minister of External Affairs Dr S Jaishankar is in Melbourne to attend the fourth Quad dialogue meeting.
- Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) is a partnership of four nations - India, Japan, Australia, and the US.
- The four nations will share their commitment to openness and the challenges arising from the current global order.
"And that has led so much of the work that has been important to this Quad partnership," Mr Morrison said.
Ahead of the Quad meeting, Dr Jaishankar attended an hour-long public event organised by the Australia India Institute (AII) at the University of Melbourne.
“I am very excited to be here because if I were to look at five big relationships which have changed for us [India] very profoundly in the last decade, I would put Australia right up there,” Dr Jaishankar said.
“We have so much common history, shared traditions, close associations, that you have to ask yourself why we weren’t closer than we are at this point in time,” he added.
Dr Jaishankar said that in the past the two sides did not share the same bond which has changed dramatically in the last decade.
"Perhaps we didn't have the kind of economic interaction which we now hope to do, or perhaps it was also that we didn't have as many students in the past as we do now,” Dr Jaishankar said.
Dr Jaishankar further highlighted that ministerial visits between the two sides are increasing and that the relationship must be tapped from all fronts including people-to-people linkages.
Speaking about the Quad group, the minister said that it is important for countries like Australia and India not only to serve their national interest or to look at their particular regions, but for the two sides to explore taking on larger duties which would make a better world.
Australia India Institute CEO Lisa Singh with Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar Source: SBS Hindi
"And I am very confident that my discussion at Quad will take me in that direction,” he concluded.
Welcoming the Indian minister on his first official visit to Australia, Australian Immigration Minister Alex Hawke said, "Quad is an important initiative. We know that our partners in this are our future."
"As an immigration minister I see a demand to increase that relationship," he said, adding that there was a great demand from people of India to migrate to Australia for work, study, invest and trade.
People attending the Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar's public event in Melbourne on 11 February 2022. Source: SBS Hindi
In a separate event, Mr Hawke told SBS Hindi, "Quad is very significant strategically and also mobility wise."
"Some people think Quad is about our geostrategic issues in the region or challenges we face in the contest between the US and China but it is more about cooperation between partners... what we can do together economically, culturally, as good friends and neighbours in the region. It's not primarily about geostrategic competition.
"I can openly say that we are very interested in further steps in mobility and migration arrangements with India," he said, while hinting that the issue of mobility will be a part of the free trade negotiations currently being discussed by Australian trade minister Dan Tehan in India.
Mr Tehan left for India on 9 February for further negotiations on the (CECA), according to an released by the trade minister.
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