The prime diplomats of Quad nations on Friday denounced as “inadmissible” any use or threat of use of nuclear weapons in the Ukraine war and strongly opposed any “unilateral actions” that search to vary the established order in the South and East China Seas, a area that has witnessed rising Chinese army offensive.
The international ministers of Quad, after an India-hosted assembly, additionally introduced {that a} Quad working group on counter-terrorism can be established to discover measures to fight new and rising types of terrorism, radicalisation and violent extremism.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, his Japanese counterpart Yoshimasa Hayashi and Australia’s Penny Wong have been hosted over breakfast by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar below the framework of Quad.
They additionally reaffirmed the grouping’s dedication for a free and open Indo-Pacific and mentioned it strongly helps the rule of regulation, sovereignty, territorial integrity and peaceable settlement of disputes, in feedback seen as an indirect message to China.
On the Ukraine battle, the Quad international ministers emphasised that the rules-based worldwide order should respect sovereignty, territorial integrity, transparency and peaceable decision of disputes.
“We continued to debate our responses to the battle in Ukraine and the immense human struggling it’s inflicting, and concurred that the use or risk of use of nuclear weapons is inadmissible,” a joint statement issued by the four top diplomats said.
“We underscored the need for a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine in accordance with international law, including the UN Charter. We emphasised that the rules-based international order must respect sovereignty, territorial integrity, transparency and peaceful resolution of disputes,” they mentioned.
There have been apprehensions amongst Western powers that Russia could think about the nuclear choice. However, Russia has rejected such apprehensions.
Except India, the opposite Quad member nations — the US, Japan and Australia have been severely vital of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The US has been main Western efforts to punish Russia for the invasion.
Hours after the Quad assembly, Blinken mentioned on the Raisina Dialogue that permitting Russia to wage warfare in opposition to Ukraine with impunity can be a message to “can be aggressors” everywhere that they may be able to get away with it too.
“If we allow with impunity Russia to do what it’s doing in Ukraine, then that’s a message to would be aggressors everywhere that they may be able to get away with it too,” he mentioned.
“Good to interrupt bread with my Quad colleagues in New Delhi immediately. Together, we acknowledge the Indo-Pacific area will form the trajectory of the world in the twenty first century and are dedicated to safeguarding its peace, stability, and rising prosperity,” Blinken tweeted.
Seen as a veiled message to China, the Quad foreign ministers said they strongly oppose “any unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo or increase tensions” in East and South China Seas.
“We categorical critical concern on the militarisation of disputed options, the damaging use of coast guard vessels and maritime militia, and efforts to disrupt different international locations’ offshore useful resource exploitation actions,” they said without naming China.
The Quad foreign ministers said the Quad Maritime Security Working Group meeting will be hosted by the US in Washington in March.
In their statement, the ministers also welcomed the progress made under the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA).
“We recognise that peace and security in the maritime domain underpins the development and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific, and reiterate the importance of respect for sovereignty, consistent with international law,” they added.
They reiterated the significance of adherence to worldwide regulation, as mirrored in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), to satisfy challenges to the maritime rules-based order.
The Quad international ministers additionally “unequivocally” condemned terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms and denounced the use of terrorist proxies and financial or military support to terrorist organisations which could be used to launch or plan terrorist attacks, including transnational and cross-border strikes.
They reiterated their condemnation of terrorist attacks, including 26/11 Mumbai strikes, which claimed lives of citizens from all Quad countries, and Pathankot attacks.
“We are pleased to announce the establishment of the Quad working group on counter-terrorism, which will explore cooperation amongst the Quad, and with Indo-Pacific partners, to counter new and emerging forms of terrorism, radicalisation to violence and violent extremism,” they mentioned in the assertion.
“We sit up for its first assembly in the United States in 2023 to proceed our discussions on this international concern.” The Quad foreign ministers said they are committed to working together with the regional and international partners to promote accountability for the perpetrators of terrorist attacks, including through designations by the UN Security Council’s 1267 sanctions committee.
“In this regard, we express our concern at attempts to politicise the working of the UNSC Sanctions Regimes and call on all states to maintain the transparent, objective and evidence based working methods of UNSC Sanctions Committees,” the assertion mentioned.
It mentioned the ministers famous with deep concern that terrorism has turn into more and more diffuse, aided by terrorists’ adaptation to, and the usage of rising and evolving applied sciences reminiscent of unmanned aerial techniques (UAS) and the web.
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