3 Quad nations back strong supply chains

NEW DELHI: India, Australia and Japan on Tuesday agreed to launch an initiative to ensure the resilience of supply chains in the Indo-Pacific, with the move coming against the backdrop of tensions created by China’s aggressive actions across the region.

The creation of the “Supply Chain Resilience Initiative” was mooted by Japan amid the Covid-19 crisis, which has played havoc with supply and manufacturing chains, and the three countries held preliminary talks on the issue over the past few weeks, people familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity.

During their first virtual meeting, commerce minister Piyush Goyal and his Australian and Japanese counterparts, Simon Birmingham and Kajiyama Hiroshi, outlined their intention to work for the launch of the new initiative because of the “pressing need for regional cooperation on supply chain resilience in the IndoPacific”, a joint statement said.

They signalled their determination to “take a lead in delivering a free, fair, inclusive, non-discriminatory, transparent, predictable and stable trade and investment environment and in keeping their markets open”, it added.

The people cited above said the supply chain initiative was a natural follow on to the security cooperation between the three countries, both bilaterally and through platforms such as the Quadrilateral Dialogue Mechanism or Quad, which also includes the US.

The issue of supply chains found mention in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address on Independence Day, when he said: “Many businesses around the world see India as a supply chain hub today.”