Australia, the U.S., India and Japan are in talks to establish a joint regional infrastructure scheme as an "alternative" to China's Belt and Road Initiative, The Australian Financial Review reported Feb. 18, citing an unnamed senior U.S. official.

The unnamed official was quoted as saying the plan was still "nascent," but the project involving the four regional partners will be on the agenda during Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's meetings with U.S. President Donald Trump when the former visits the U.S. on Feb. 21-24.

The U.S., Japan, India and Australia have also revived four-way talks to deepen security cooperation and coordinate alternatives for infrastructure financing to that offered by China.

The so-called Quad held talks in Manila on the sidelines of ASEAN and East Asia Summits in November 2017.