The Quad — a quadrilateral diplomatic partnership between India, the US, Japan and Australia — “strengthens the region’s economic backbone and protects the sea lanes”, the US consul general in Calcutta said on Friday.

Consul general Kathy Giles-Diaz said the US-India partnership “sits at the heart of this effort”.

She was speaking at a dialogue on the US strategic framework for the Indo-Pacific at the American Center.

“As India deepens its engagement with the Indo-Pacific, the eastern and northeastern regions are again becoming central — linking India to global trade, supply chains, and growth,” said Giles-Diaz.

“The United States remains firmly committed to a free, open Indo-Pacific — one where trade flows freely, sovereignty is respected, and no country can coerce another through force or economic pressure,” she said.

“This is why the Quad matters. When the Quad works together, it strengthens the region’s economic backbone and protects the sea lanes and digital networks that global commerce depends on,” the consul general added.

She referred to the arrival of the new US Ambassador to India while speaking about the partnership of the two nations.

Ambassador Sergio Gor took charge of the US embassy in New Delhi on Monday.

Gor begins his stint at a time when bilateral relations have hit a rocky patch over trade negotiations.

Organised by the think tank, Observer Research Foundation (ORF), in collaboration with the US Consulate General, Kolkata, a summary of dialogues held in six northeastern states was presented on Friday.

Stakeholders from various sectors — academia, industry, media and civil society, among others — were asked about the opportunities and impediments for the Northeast in relation to the Indo-Pacific in these six dialogues held in Meghalaya, Assam, Sikkim, Tripura, Manipur and Mizoram over the past year.

“The participants in these dialogues were asked what they felt were the possibilities for growth, what the opportunities and impediments in the Northeast were. We held two surveys before and after these dialogues,” said Nilanjan Ghosh, a senior director at ORF.

“Their perception of the Northeast evolved from that of only a security construction to one of a region with potential for development,” Ghosh said.

Friday’s programme also featured virtual presentations from US state department officials Abigail Bard, Quad team coordinator, and Jeffrey Wang, Quad team lead and political officer, who spoke about America’s strategic vision in the region and the importance of maritime security.