Virat Kohli signed bat: India's gift to Australian minister on Quad sidelines

A bat signed by cricketer Virat Kohli - this was the gift that India's foreign minister gave to his Australian counterpart Marise Payne during a visit to the country for a Quad summit.

Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said that the gift is a message of "fair play and rules of the game". The foreign ministers of India, Australia, Japan, and USA toured the Melbourne Cricket Ground after their meeting to discuss Indo-Pacific issues.

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Jaishankar also visited the Shrine of Remembrance, one of Australia's largest war memorials. He observed a "solemn moment to honour the memory of the fallen soldiers" at the monument.

The Australia visit, mainly for the Quad meeting, is Jaishankar's first trip to the country as foreign minister. The Quad is seen as a counterweight to a belligerent China in the Indo-Pacific. The Quad meeting on February 11 occurred against the backdrop of tension between the West and China's close ally Russia over Ukraine.

Apart from the Quad meeting, Jaishankar held bilateral talks with ministers from Japan, USA, and Australia. He also called on Scott Morrison, the Australian PM, along with the other foreign ministers.

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Along with diplomacy, Jaishankar talked business in Australia. He held a roundtable meeting with CEOs and said that it was "encouraging to hear their experiences of India's improved ease of doing business".