India, Japan and US hold trilateral meeting

• India, Japan and the United States participated in the ninth trilateral meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday. The meeting focused on connectivity, counter-terrorism and other regional and global issues, a joint press release issued after the talks informed.

“The officials reviewed the outcomes of the Trilateral Infrastructure Working Group that met in Washington in February and agreed to continue to collaborate to promote increased connectivity in the Indo-Pacific,” the press release stated.

It said the talks drew from the guidelines laid out by the Foreign Ministers of three nations who met in New York on 18 September 2017, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session.

“The officials explored practical steps to enhance cooperation in the areas of connectivity and infrastructure development, counter-proliferation, counter-terrorism, maritime security, maritime domain awareness and HA-DR (Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief),” the press release said.

The meeting is crucial as it comes in the backdrop of the ongoing trade war between China and the Trump administration that erupted after both sides imposed tariffs on each other’s goods.

Echoing India’s concern about maintaining freedom of navigation in the South China Sea and the western Pacific Ocean, the trilateral emphasised on importance of keeping sea lanes open.

“All sides agreed to remain engaged and strengthen cooperation in support for a free, open, prosperous, peaceful and inclusive Indo-Pacific region through partnership with countries in the region,” the press release declared.