Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that India wholeheartedly endorses the broad concept of working towards ensuring a trustworthy, dependable, and reliable supply chain in the Indo-Pacific region.

He said, the diversification of the supply chain is critical for managing the risks associated with the supply of inputs including disciplining price volatility. Mr Goyal was addressing the ministerial-level meeting on Supply Chains in the Indo-Pacific region.

Trade and Commerce ministers of India, Australia, and Japan have underscored the necessity and potential to enhance the resiliency of supply chains in the Indo-Pacific region.

The ministerial-level meeting on Supply Chains was attended Mr Goyal, Australia’s Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, Simon Birmingham, and Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry, Kajiyama Hiroshi through videoc onference. Recognizing the pressing need for regional cooperation on supply chain resilience in the Indo- Pacific, the Ministers shared their intention to work toward the launch of a new initiative to achieve the objective through cooperation.

The details of the new initiative slated for launch later this year will be worked out by senior officials. The ministers also invited other like minded countries in the region to participate in the initiative. Addressing the Trilateral meeting, Piyush Goyal said that the initiative could not have come at a more opportune time in the post COVID scenario when there is a likelihood of rechurning of supply chains in the Indo-Pacific region and it is incumbent upon us to take the initiative. Referring to Prime Minister Modi’s remarks, he said it is the need of the hour that India should play a big role in the supply chains.