WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th February, 2022) US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will embark on a Pacific tour on February 7, during which he will hold meetings with the members of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) and other regional partners, the State Department said on Friday.
The Quad brings together the US, India, Japan and Australia.
"Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken will travel to Australia, Fiji, and Hawaii February 7-13 to engage with Indo-Pacific allies and partners to advance peace, resilience, and prosperity across the region and demonstrate that these partnerships deliver," the statement said.
On February 9-12 in Australia, Blinken will attend the fourth Quad Foreign Ministers Ministerial Meeting. It will be hosted by Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne.
"With our Quad partners, we are delivering results for our populations and the region, including by advancing cooperation on COVID-19 vaccination delivery, humanitarian assistance/disaster relief, maritime security, counter-terrorism, cybersecurity, countering disinformation, climate change, and critical and emerging technologies," the State Department said.
Blinken is expected to meet with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Foreign Minister Payne, Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Yoshimasa Hayashi, Indian Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, among others.
The secretary will arrive in Honolulu, Hawaii on February 12, where he will host Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi and South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong for a US-Japan-South Korea trilateral ministerial meeting
"(The meeting) to deepen our cooperation in addressing threats from the DPRK's nuclear and missile programs and confronting 21st century challenges together across the globe. Secretary Blinken also will meet with Foreign Minister Chung and, separately, with USINDOPACOM Commander Admiral John Aquilino," it added.
North Korea launched a Hwasong-12 ballistic missile with a range of 4,500 kilometers (2,796 miles) on Sunday, making it the longest-range missile tested by Pyongyang since 2017. The launch became North Korea's seventh this year.
