*AUSTRALIA US INDIA JAPAN IN TALKS*

SYDNEY : Australia, US, India and Japan in talks to establish ''Belt and Road'' alternative.

They are talking about establishing a joint regional infrastructure scheme as an alternative to China's  multi billion-dollar ''One Belt- One Road'' initiative in an attempt-

To counter Beijing's spreading influence, the Australian Financial Review reported on Monday, citing a senior US official.

The unnamed official was quoted as saying the plan involving the four regional partners was still  ''nascent'' and ''won't be ripe enough to be announced during Australian Prime Minister Turnbull's visit to the United States.

The official said, however, that the project was on the agenda for Turnbull's talks with US President Donald Trump during that trip and was being seriously discussed.

The source added that preferred terminology was to call the plan an ''alternative'' to China's Belt and Road Initiative, rather than a  ''rival'' .

''No one is saying that China should not build the infrastructure,'' the official was quoted as saying.

''China might build a port which, on its own is not economically viable. We could make it  economically viable by building a road or rail line linking that port.''

''I is not the case that this is to counter China's Belt and Road,'' he said. [Reuters].