Committed to shared growth in Indo-Pacific: Prime Minister

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the maiden Japan-America-India trilateral meeting held in Buenos Aires on the sidelines of the G20 Summit on Friday that India was firmly committed to making the Indo-Pacific a region for shared economic growth and common prosperity, underscoring the country’s preference for non-bloc security architecture for the region.

In a subtle message to China, owing to its “hegemonistic” designs in the region, the PM called for respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity in the region.

The three leaders shared views on a free, open, inclusive and rulesbased order in the Indo-Pacific region, based on respect for international law and peaceful resolution of all differences. The three countries had for years held the trilateral at the level official and later upgraded it to the foreign minister level.


The leaders emphasised on cooperation on all major issues of global and multilateral interest – connectivity, sustainable development, counterterrorism, maritime security and cybersecurity.

The trilateral, which was followed by the second Russia-India-China (RIC) Summit, was the focus of attention in Buenos Aires, besides the meeting between the Presidents of the US and China. Earlier, leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) met and discussed ways to safeguard multilateralism, including the World Trade Organization, amid America’s protectionist tendencies. In his address at the BRICS meet, Modi described terrorism and financial crimes as the biggest global threats.

Modi, with US President Donald Trump and Japanese PM Shinzo Abe in audience, articulated five concepts that would serve the common interest of promoting peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific.

He assured all countries of the inclusivity and openness of this framework, and the importance of working jointly in connectivity, sustainable development, disaster relief, maritime security and unfettered mobility, and by building consensus on an architecture based on the principles of mutual benefit and respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Modi, Trump and Abe agreed to cooperate in various ways and to work together with other countries.

There was a consensus on trilateral format meetings at the multilateral conferences, officials said.