India, US, Japan take on China at first trilateral ministerial meet

NEW DELHI: India, USA and Japan emphasised on freedom of navigation and overflight along with unimpeded lawful commerce in the South China Sea region, taking a dig at China in their first ministerial level trilateral meeting held in Washington, DC.

The three nations issued a joint statement on the contentious issue for the first time, although India-USA, US-Japan and India-Japan have earlier come out with bilateral statements.

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"The three ministers highlighted the growing convergence of their respective countries’ interests in the Indo-Pacific region. They also underscored the importance of international law and peaceful settlement of disputes; freedom of navigation and overflight; and unimpeded lawful commerce, including in the South China Sea," the joint statement issued after the meeting on Tuesday said.

Foreign minister Sushma Swaraj and her Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida attended the inaugural US-India-Japan trilateral ministerial dialogue, hosted by the US secretary of state John Kerry, on the sidelines of the 70th United Nations General Assembly in New York. "They reiterated their support for ASEAN centrality in the multilateral political and security architecture in the Asia-Pacific region and emphasised the importance of the East Asia Summit as the premier leaders-level forum for addressing key political and security issues of the region," the statement said.