India and its partners in the Quadrilateral Security Group or Quad on Friday reiterated their support for efforts aimed at ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific, and agreed to expedite the delivery of Covid-19 vaccines across the region.

"Our meeting advanced the Quad`s positive and ambitious agenda. We are focused on working closely with Indo-Pacific partners to address the region`s most important challenges. Working together as the Quad, we are more effective in delivering practical support to the region," said the Foreign Ministers of Australia, India, and Japan and the Secretary of State of the United States in a joint statement after the Quad Foreign Ministers` Meeting.

"The Quad recognizes that international law, peace, and security in the maritime domain underpins the development and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific. The Quad is supporting regional neighbors to build resilience and counter disinformation," said the statement.

Addressing a joint briefing after the meeting, Jaishankar said that the FMs reviewed Quad's ongoing efforts to combat the pandemic & agreed to expedite delivery of safe and affordable vaccines, support capacity building, and augment infrastructure for last-mile delivery.

The changing India-US relationship has been a very defining development in this century, said External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar on Friday during bilateral talks with US State Secretary Antony Blinken on the sidelines of Quad Meeting.

"Certainly, for us, in this century the changing India-US relationship has really been a very defining development. So, I welcome the chance today to sit with you and look at our relationship and see how we can continue to take it forward in its positive trajectory, " said Jaishankar.

During the QUAD summit, a partnership of four nations discussed the progress made by the platform during their telephonic conversations. They will also be building on discussions regarding space, education, healthcare, and infrastructure among others on the sidelines of the meeting.

This is the first time that the Foreign Ministers of Japan, the US, India and Australia are meeting since their two summits last year.