By Reena Bhardwaj

Washington, DC [US], July 1 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar arrived in Washington, DC on Monday (local time). Jaishankar is on an official visit to the US at the invitation of US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, to participate in the next edition of the Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting (QFMM), scheduled for July 1, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated in a press release.

During the meeting, the leaders will build upon the discussions held during the last QFMM, which took place in Washington, DC on January 21.

In the press release, MEA stated, 'They will exchange views on regional and global developments, particularly those concerning the Indo-Pacific, and review the progress made on various Quad initiatives in the run-up to the Quad Leaders' Summit, which India will host. The Ministers are also expected to deliberate on new proposals to advance the shared vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific.'

Before arriving in Washington, DC, Jaishankar was in New York, where he inaugurated an exhibition at the United Nations on 'The Human Cost of Terrorism,' highlighting the need to expose state sponsorship of terrorism.

Speaking at the inauguration of the exhibition on 'The Human Cost of Terrorism' at the UN Headquarters in New York, he said that 'terrorism anywhere is a threat to peace everywhere.'

'A tribute to those who were taken away from us and remembrance lives shattered by discouragement, by our gathering, we express solidarity with the families and the loved ones of the victims of terrorism. The campaign is a stark reminder of the urgency of our shared responsibility to combat terrorism in all its forms,' he added.

Highlighting the exhibition's significance, he noted that 'today's exhibition is not merely a presentation of images, videos and testimonies. It is a statement of our shared humanity. It is a gallery of human courage, each moment, each memory, each artefact, and every word tells the story of a life interrupted, altered or lost.'

Jaishankar emphasised the need for zero tolerance for terrorism, citing the recent condemnation by the UN Security Council of a horrific act of terrorism in Pahalgam. He said, 'The world must come to some basic concepts: no impunity to terrorists, no treating them as proxies, and no yielding to nuclear blackmail.' (ANI)