While expressing concern over the situation in the East and South China Seas where Beijing continues to threaten its neighbours, the foreign ministers of four Quad nations on Monday emphasized the importance of maintaining and upholding freedom of navigation and overflight, other lawful uses of the sea, and unimpeded commerce consistent with international law.
The foreign ministers of India, Australia, Japan and the United States, who met in Tokyo, reiterated the need for a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in Ukraine in line with international law and called for peace and stability in West Asia while reaffirming the imperative of securing the release of all hostages held by Hamas in the ongoing conflict in the region.
In his remarks at the Quad foreign ministers’ press conference, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the Quad grouping is not a talk shop but a platform that generates practical outcomes.
“The overall messaging is that our four countries – all democratic polities, pluralistic societies and market economies – are working together for a free and open Indo-Pacific, for a rules-based order and for global good. That by itself is a powerful stabilising factor in an uncertain and volatile world,” he said.
With regards to the Indo-Pacific, the joint statement said all countries have a role in contributing to regional peace, stability, and prosperity, while seeking a region in which no country dominates and no country is dominated, competition is managed responsibly, and each country is free from coercion in all its forms and can exercise its agency to determine its own future.
”We emphasize the importance of all countries working to take practical measures to reduce the risks of misunderstanding and miscalculation,” it added.
The joint statement said the Quad countries support an open, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific underpinned by effective regional institutions. ”We reaffirm our unwavering support for ASEAN’s unity and centrality, and the ASEAN-led regional architecture – including the East Asia Summit and ASEAN Regional Forum,” it added.
The Quad nations unequivocally condemned terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms and manifestations including cross-border terrorism.
”We deplore the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), drones, tunnels and information and communication technologies by terrorists and terrorist entities. We strongly reiterate our condemnation of terrorist attacks, including the 26/11 Mumbai and Pathankot attacks and call for bringing the perpetrators of these attacks to justice without delay.
“We urge all countries to take immediate, sustained and irreversible action to prevent territory under their control from being used for terrorist purposes,” they said.
The joint statement said the four nations are committed to working together to promote accountability for the perpetrators of terrorist attacks and support implementation including through domestic designations of UN Security Council resolutions as they pertain to sanctions.
”We reiterate the call for concerted action against all UN-listed terrorist groups including Al-Qa’ida, ISIS/Daesh, Lashkar e-Tayyiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), and their proxy groups.
“We are committed to international cooperation and working together with our international and regional partners in a comprehensive and sustained manner to strengthen their capacity to prevent, detect and respond to threats posed by terrorism and violent extremism including threats posed by the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes,” they said.
They recognized the essential contribution of space-related applications and technologies in the Indo-Pacific.
”We call upon all States to contribute to the safe, peaceful, responsible, and sustainable use of outer space. We remain committed to fostering international cooperation and transparency, as well as confidence-building measures with the goal of improving the security of outer space for all States,” the joint statement added.