E-Paper
Jaishankar, Blinken meet in Tokyo ahead of Quad foreign ministers meet
Jaishankar arrived in Japan on Sunday for a two-day visit for the Quad Foreign Ministers' meeting.
External Affairs minister S Jaishankar met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday in Tokyo and discussed a wide range of regional and global issues and bilateral ties. The two leaders met on the sidelines of the Quad Foreign Ministers' meeting.
Sharing pictures of their meeting, Jaishankar said that it was “great to catch up” with Blinken. “Our bilateral agenda progresses steadily. Also had a wide-ranging discussion on regional and global issues. Look forward to attending the Quad FMM tomorrow,” he wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Notably, the QUAD—Quadrilateral Security Dialogue—is a strategic security dialogue between Australia, India, Japan, and the United States maintained by talks between member countries. In November 2017, the countries gave shape to the long-pending proposal of setting up the Quad to develop a new strategy to keep the critical sea routes in the Indo-Pacific free of any influence.
Jaishankar in Japan
Jaishankar arrived in Japan on Sunday for a two-day visit for the Quad Foreign Ministers' meeting. He was received by India's Ambassador to Japan and the Republic of Marshall Islands, Sibi George.
Earlier in the day, the minister unveiled the bust of Mahatma Gandhi at Freedom Plaza in Edogawa, Tokyo and attended the ceremony in the presence of Edogawa Mayor, Takeshi Saito, Sibi George, the Ambassador of India to Japan and other ministers. At the event, a group of schoolchildren sang Gandhi's favourite prayer, “Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram.”
Also read: Must stabilise ties: Jaishankar tells Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Laos
Addressing the Indian diaspora at the event, Jaishankar called Mahatma Gandhi a “global icon” and said that his messages throughout his life are “timeless”.
“We have to ask ourselves today, why is it important to have this statue here...the achievements of Gandhi have far outlived his times, with the passage of time, they have become more important. What he taught us, was important then as well as now. I was told that this place is called 'Little India'. I hope it becomes bigger!” he said.
According to Jaishankar, without Gandhi, the Indian independence struggle would have taken "much longer" or could have gone in a “different direction.”
“Indian independence was the beginning of a very momentous event as it began a cycle of decolonization of the world. When India became free, other parts of Asia, Africa, and Latin America became free. Today, as we say, India is the fifth largest economy in the world. The world is heading towards multipolarity, and when the G7 becomes G20, in a way, all this started as a result of what Gandhi did in his life,” he added.
(With inputs from PTI)
