INDIA HAS LAUNCHED NEW TRILATERAL WITH ITALY, JAPAN FOR INDO-PACIFIC STABILITY

INDIA HAS LAUNCHED NEW TRILATERAL WITH ITALY, JAPAN FOR INDO-PACIFIC STABILITY

Context:

India-Italy-Japan launched their trilateral – the 2nd trilateral involving India and a European power – hoping to create stability and a rules-based international order based on the consent of all, not on the power of the few in the Indo-Pacific region.

About:

• The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the Embassies of Italy in Tokyo and New Delhi and the Japanese foreign ministry besides representatives of the three countries’ important think tanks launched this trilateral through a virtual meeting.
• The ambassadors of Italy in Japan and India, Mr Giorgio Starace and Mr Vincenzo de Luca (respectively) inaugurated the event, in the presence of key stakeholders including the MEA Ms Riva Ganguly Das, the Director-General for European Affairs of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr Uyama Hideki and Director General for Global Affairs of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mr Luca Sabbatucci, Secretary (East).

Related Key Points:

• In 2020, India-France-Australia initiated a trilateral approach and this has been taken with the foreign ministerial stage meeting in 2021.
• India and Japan are part of 2 other trilateral approaches for the Indo-Pacific region – India-Japan-Australia and India-Japan-USA.
• India and Australia have initiated a trilateral involving Indonesia, SE Asia’s biggest nation.