New Delhi (TIP)- Prime Minister on Thursday, March 3, participated in a Quad Summit and held a virtual meet with Australian and Japanese Prime Ministers Scott Morrison and Fumio Kishida, and United States (US) President Joe Biden. In the meeting, recent developments in the Indo-Pacific region were kept on the agenda among other things. The Quad Leaders meeting reviewed the progress on Quad initiatives since the September 2021 Quad Summit. The leaders agreed on accelerating cooperation, with an objective to achieve concrete outcomes by the summit in Japan later this year. In the meeting today, PM Modi underlined that Quad must remain focused on its objective of promoting peace & prosperity in Indo-Pacific region. He called for concrete forms of cooperation within Quad, in areas like Humanitarian & Disaster Relief, debt sustainability, supply chains & capacity-building as per the PMO.

According to PMO, Indian Prime Minister emphasised on need to return to a path of dialogue & diplomacy. Leaders also discussed other issues, including developments in ASEAN, Indian Ocean region&Pacific Islands. PM reiterated the importance of adhering to the UN Charter, respect for sovereignty & territorial integrity.

The leaders in the summit further agreed to stay in touch and to work towards an ambitious agenda for the forthcoming Leaders’ Summit in Japan.

Last Quad leaders meeting was held in September and in that meeting the participating leaders had pledged to work together for ensuring peace and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific and the world. The four leaders had also announced a slew of new initiatives to take on common challenges amid challenges posed by China in the region.

PM blames previous govts for Indian students going abroad

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, March 3,  blamed previous governments for a large number of Indian students going abroad to pursue medical education and asserted that his dispensation has been working to augment the number of medical colleges so that students can enrol themselves within the country.

In an interaction with students from different parts of Uttar Pradesh who have returned from the war-hit Ukraine, Modi also empathised with those students and their families who have expressed their anger, even at him, after facing hardships in Ukraine.

“I think it is natural for them to feel angry in this crisis,” he said, adding that they have been facing hardships and braving cold.

The government has launched “Operation Ganga” to evacuate Indian citizens, mostly students, from Ukraine which has been attacked by Russia.When they are no longer agitated and begin to understand the magnitude of the exercise, they will show their affection as well, the prime minister said, as many students expressed their thanks to him and lauded his government for rescuing them when they had lost all hope. A strong India is the answer to these troubles, Modi said, expressing his sympathies with the students who, he added, had to go through such an experience at a young age. “If medical education policies were right earlier, then you would not have to go abroad,” he said, adding that no parents want their children to go overseas at such a young age.