Envoys of Quad hold rare meeting in Beijing

Beijing: Ambassadors of the Quad nations, consisting of the US, India, Australia and Japan, held a rare publicised meeting in Beijing.The meeting took place on Tuesday at the US Embassy in Beijing, according to the post on X with a photo by the American Ambassador to China, David Perdue."The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) is a force for good in maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region," Perdue said in his post."It is a pleasure to meet with the ambassadors of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue countries in Beijing," he said."The relations among the four countries-the United States, Australia, India, and Japan-continue to be stable and strong," he said and posted a photo of the four envoys, including Indian Ambassador to Beijing Pradeep Kumar Rawat.The Indian Embassy here has not yet commented on the meeting.China, over the years, has been a strong critic of the Quad and has not yet reacted to the meeting.Beijing, in the past while reacting to the Quad meetings, stated that it is opposed to countries forming cliques, engaging in group politics and bloc confrontation.In her reaction to the Foreign Ministers meeting of the Quad countries held in January this year, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said China has always advocated that cooperation among countries should not target third parties."China believes that cooperation between countries should not target any third party," she said."Engaging in group politics and bloc confrontation will not bring lasting peace and security, and is not conducive to peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific and the world as a whole," she said.