Washington: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet India and other Quad partners during a Southeast Asia visit, even as Washington and Beijing prepare for an expected US visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping in September.
Rubio said the ASEAN Summit would be the primary focus of his visit. It would also give him an opportunity to hold bilateral and regional meetings.
“This summit, ASEAN, is our primary way of engaging the region. We’re committed to it,” Rubio told reporters at Joint Base Andrews. “We’ll also have meetings with the Quad of India, Australia, Japan, and ourselves,” he said.
Rubio said he would also hold a trilateral meeting with South Korea and Japan. He could meet Vietnam’s foreign minister and officials from several other countries during the visit.
The Secretary is also expected to meet the Philippine President. It will be Rubio’s first visit to the Philippines since becoming Secretary of State.
“So it’s a long way to go,” Rubio said. “But it’s an important forum for us.”
Rubio also left open the possibility of meeting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the ASEAN gathering.
“I’m not sure we’ve finalised that, but we’d be open to meeting with him, sure,” he said.
Asked whether he would raise President Donald Trump’s claim about Chinese interference in the 2020 US Presidential election, Rubio declined to disclose what could be discussed in such a meeting.
“I would never tell you guys in a press conference what we would raise in meetings like that. Those are delicate matters,” he said.
Rubio said an expected visit by Xi to the United States remained on track for September. Chinese teams have continued preparations for the trip, he said.
“We anticipate that the trip is happening in September,” Rubio said. “They’ve continued to send over their teams to prepare for it, and I’ve heard nothing otherwise. I have no reason to believe that they won’t be coming.”
Rubio said Washington and Beijing would continue to have disagreements. But he said the two major powers had a responsibility to maintain dialogue.
“When you have two big, powerful countries like the United States and China, there are always going to be irritants, there are always going to be things we don’t agree on,” he said. “But I think it’s incumbent on powerful and important countries like ours to continue to talk and have a relationship.”
“We owe it to each other and for our people and to the world,” Rubio added.
The Quad, formally known as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, brings together India, the United States, Japan and Australia. Consultations began in 2007 and were revived in 2017. The grouping’s cooperation covers maritime security, critical technologies, infrastructure, health and disaster relief.
ASEAN comprises 10 Southeast Asian countries and has long sought to remain at the centre of the region’s diplomatic architecture. India and the United States participate in ASEAN-led forums, including the East Asia Summit and the ASEAN Regional Forum.
(IANS)
