New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs  announced on Wednesday that External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar will attend the 4th Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting on February 11 in Melbourne, along with the Foreign Ministers of Australia, Japan, and the United States.

On the invitation of his Australian counterpart Marise Payne, Jaishankar will conduct an official visit to Australia from February 10 to 13.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), this will be his first trip to Australia as Minister of External Affairs. It would be India's first high-level visit to Australia since the country reopened its borders following the breakout of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Given their common vision of a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific region, it will be an occasion for the Ministers to follow up on their virtual meeting in February 2021 and exchange perspectives on regional strategic issues. The Ministers will assess ongoing Quad cooperation and build on the positive and constructive agenda announced by the Leaders at the two 2021 Summits to address current challenges such as the COVID pandemic, supply chains, critical technologies, climate change, and infrastructure, among others "According to the MEA.

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