US, Japan and India push for open Asia

The leaders of the United States, Japan and India met jointly for the first time and called for open navigation in Asia. The three leaders -- US President Donald Trump, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe -- met on the sidelines of the summit of the G20 economic powers in Buenos Aires.

With the meeting lasting around 15 minutes, the three-way summit was more about symbolism than planning strategy, but it comes as all three share concerns on China’s rising clout. Japan and India both have longstanding territorial feuds with their neighbour, while Trump has been pressing China hard on trade and reiterating concerns over Beijing’s assertive posture in the dispute-ridden South China Sea.

“Japan, the US and India share fundamental values and strategic interests,” Abe said. “By having three of us working together, we’ll bring more prosperity and more stability in the region, as well as globally,” he said. Modi noted that Japan, America and India made out the acronym “Jai” -- Hindi for “long live.” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said in a statement that the summit “reaffirmed the importance of the free and open Indo-Pacific vision for global stability and prosperity, and pledged to deepen trilateral cooperation.”