Quad foreign ministers denounce Indo-Pacific ‘tension,’ debate Ukraine
New Delhi, Mar 3 (EFE).- The Foreign Affairs chiefs of the Quad, the alliance made up of Japan, the United States, Australia and India, denounced Friday the attempts to “increase tension” in the East and South China seas, without directly naming Beijing, and “debated” their responses to the Ukraine war.
“We firmly oppose any unilateral action that seeks to change the status quo or increase tensions in the area. We express our deep concern about the militarization of disputed areas, the dangerous use of coast guard ships and maritime militias,” the quartet said after assembling in New Delhi.
The meeting was attended by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, as well as his Indian counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
The foreign ministers also addressed the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the “immense suffering it is causing,” and called for a “complete, just and lasting peace” and in accordance with international law.
Blinken, after the Quad meeting and during a joint intervention with the rest of the ministers at the Raisina Dialogue international forum in New Delhi, stated that if the world “allows Russia to do with impunity what it is doing in Ukraine, it would be a message to all potential bullies around the world that they too can get away with it.
Jaishankar said the quartet agreed on the creation of a working group on counter-terrorism, as well as greater collaboration between the Quad and the Indian Ocean Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC), as positive elements of Friday’s meeting.
Hayashi, asked about Beijing, said the Quad “is not a military organization, but a practical cooperation from which we do not try to exclude anyone.”
Today’s meeting comes a day after the G20 foreign ministers met in the Indian capital, a meeting marked by division between the US, with its Western allies, and Russia over the war in Ukraine.
The friction between Washington and Beijing also captured much of the attention at the ministerial meeting held Thursday.
The Quad, for its part, has focused on reaffirming the commitment of these four countries to a rules-based international order, and on defending a “free and open Indo-Pacific,” as the group calls its strategy to counter the geopolitical rise. of China in the region.
The Quad would seek to counter this strength with an approach to island countries. EFE
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