India bats for making Indo-Pacific a region for shared prosperity in first 'JAI' trilateral meet
Buenos Aires : India underscored its firm commitment to make the Indo-Pacific a region for shared economic growth as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday held their first trilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 summit here, amidst China flexing its muscles in the strategic Indo-Pacific region.
Asserting that India will "continue to work together on shared values," Modi said, "When you look at the acronym of our three countries -- Japan, America, and India -- it is 'JAI', which stands for success in Hindi."
The prime minister said the 'JAI' meeting was a convergence of vision between the three nations.
"This is a very good occasion for the three countries -- countries which have shared values, democratic values...We will continue to play a big role together for world peace, prosperity and stability," he said.
Modi underscored India's firm commitment to make the Indo Pacific a region for shared economic growth and common prosperity.
The prime minister articulated five action points that would serve the common interest of promoting peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.
He assured all countries of the inclusiveness and openness of this framework and highlighted the importance of working jointly in areas such as connectivity, sustainable development, disaster relief, maritime security and unfettered mobility.
Modi also underlined the importance of building consensus on an architecture in the Indo-Pacific region based on principles of mutual benefit and respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity.
"JAI (Japan, America, India) trilateral marks the coming together of three friendly nations. Today's historic JAI meeting was a great beginning. PM @AbeShinzo, @POTUS and I held fruitful talks aimed at furthering connectivity, maritime cooperation and a stable Indo-Pacific," Modi tweeted after the meeting.
The Japanese premier said he was happy to participate in "the first ever 'JAI' meeting" and hope that it would reinforce the trilateral partnership and its close cooperation "towards realising a free and open Indo-Pacific".
Appreciating India's growth story during the meet, Trump said, "The relationships between our three countries is extremely good and extremely strong...with India, maybe stronger than ever...We are doing very well together. We are doing a lot of trade together. We are doing a lot of defence together, a lot of military purchases."
The leaders emphasised the importance of cooperation among the three countries on all major issue of global and multilateral interests such as connectivity, sustainable development, counterterrorism and maritime and cyber security.
They shared their views on progressing a free, open, conclusive and rule-based order in the Indo-Pacific region, based on respect for international law and peaceful resolution of all differences.
The trilateral meeting took place at a time when China is engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in the South China Sea, and with Japan in the East China Sea. Both the areas are said to be rich in minerals, oil and other natural resources.
China claims almost all of the South China Sea. Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have overlapping claims in the waterway, which includes vital sea lanes through which about USD 3 trillion in global trade passes each year.
The US has been conducting regular patrols in the South China Sea to assert freedom of navigation in the area where Beijing has built up and militarised many of the islands and reefs it controls in the region.
Prime Minister Modi, in his keynote address at the Shangri La Dialogue in Singapore in June expounded India's stand on the strategic Indo-Pacific region.
"India does not see the Indo-Pacific Region as a strategy or as a club of limited members. Nor as a grouping that seeks to dominate. And by no means do we consider it as directed against any country. A geographical definition, as such, cannot be," he had said.
Modi, Trump and Abe also agreed to cooperate in various ways and together with other countries.
They also agreed on the importance of meeting in "Trilateral Format" at multilateral conferences.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
IPL 2026 auction to feature 350 players including 240 Indians; Quinton de Kock late addition
Mumbai (PTI): A total of 350 cricketers, including 240 Indians, will go under the hammer in the IPL auction to take place in Abu Dhabi on December 16, with South Africa's comeback man Quinton de Kock a surprise late addition to the final list.
Wicketkeeper-batter De Kock, who recently came out of his ODI retirement, has been kept at a base price of Rs 1 crore. The list also includes Australia batter Steve Smith at a base price of Rs 2 crore. Smith last played in the IPL in 2021.
A total of 1,390 players registered for the Player Auction. The number was pruned to 1,005 players before 350 were finally shortlisted to battle for 77 slots available including 31 for overseas players, across the 10 teams for the 19th edition of the world’s biggest T20 league.
The first set of players in the auction includes India and Mumbai batters Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz Khan, who both have kept their base price at Rs 75 lakh each. Shaw had a regular run in the IPL from 2018 to 2024 but had gone unsold in the auction for the last edition, whereas Sarfaraz has not played in the competition since 2021.
The list shared by the IPL features two Australians in Cameron Green and Jake Fraser-McGurk, along with New Zealand and former Chennai Super Kings opener Devon Conway and South Africa’s David Miller, with each of them keeping a base price of Rs 2 crore.
Venkatesh Iyer, who was released by Kolkata Knight Riders, has listed himself at a base price of Rs 2 crore. Among domestic players, Kunal Chandela and Ashok Kumar, who are among the leading run-getters and wicket-takers respectively in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy, are also in the final list.
Three-time winners KKR will go into the auction with the biggest purse of Rs 64.3 crores, followed by five-time champions CSK with Rs 43.4 crores. Sunrisers Hyderabad, who have won the IPL once, have the third highest purse of Rs 25.5 crores.
As many as 21 England players feature in the list, including wicketkeeper-batter Jamie Smith, pacer Gus Atkinson, Liam Livingstone and Test opener Ben Duckett.
Green, expected to garner a lot of attention in this auction, leads the list of 19 Australians, with Josh Inglis, Matthew Short, Cooper Connolly and Beau Webster being the other prominent names.
De Kock and Miller are among the 15 Proteas players in the IPL auction, along with fast bowlers Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, Gerald Coetzee and all-rounder Wiaan Mulder.
Fast bowlers Alzarri Joseph and Shamar Joseph, Ackeem Auguste, Shai Hope and Roston Chase are among the nine players from the West Indies in the auction.
Sri Lankan spinners Wanindu Hasaranga, Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana and Traveen Matthew will be among the dozen players from the island nation in the auction, along with Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis and Kusal Perera.
Conway and Rachin Ravindra, who were released by CSK, are among the 16 New Zealand players in the auction.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Naveen ul Haq feature in the list of 10 players from Afghanistan.
