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India pushes for dialogue as Quad takes up Ukraine war
A statement from the Indian Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said PM Modi underlined that the Quad “must remain focused on its core objective of promoting peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific”.
The leaders of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad, discussed the Ukraine crisis at a virtual summit on Thursday, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterating his call for all countries to return to a path of dialogue and diplomacy.
During the unscheduled summit convened by the US, the leaders agreed to create a new humanitarian assistance and disaster relief mechanism that will enable Quad to meet future humanitarian challenges in the Indo-Pacific and “provide a channel for communication as they each address and respond to the crisis in Ukraine”, according to a joint readout.
A statement from the Indian Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said Modi underlined that the Quad “must remain focused on its core objective of promoting peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific”.
“Developments in Ukraine were discussed in the meeting, including its humanitarian implications. The Prime Minister emphasised the need to return to a path of dialogue and diplomacy,” the PMO statement added.
In the context of the Indo-Pacific, Modi called for “concrete and practical” cooperation within Quad in areas such as humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, debt sustainability, supply chains, clean energy, connectivity and capacity-building.
The joint readout said the meeting was convened to reaffirm the leaders’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, where the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states is respected and “countries are free from military, economic, and political coercion”. The leaders reaffirmed their dedication to the Quad as a mechanism to promote regional stability and prosperity.
The PMO statement said Modi, US President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida reviewed progress on Quad initiatives since their in-person summit in September 2021. They agreed to accelerate cooperation to achieve “concrete outcomes by the summit in Japan later this year”.
India is understood to be satisfied with the outcome of the meeting, with a sense in New Delhi that the meeting reflected the “solidarity and unity” of Quad at a difficult geopolitical moment and the “commitment of all Quad partners to remain focused on the Indo-Pacific”.
Officials believe that the fact that, despite differences between Delhi and Washington on Ukraine, a leaders-level Quad meeting was convened in such quick time, was held in a frank and cordial atmosphere, and areas of convergence were found reflected the resilience of Quad and the India-US partnership, and the trust at the highest levels among the four member countries of the group.
The leaders also discussed the situation in South-east Asia, the Indian Ocean and Pacific Islands, and Modi reiterated the importance of adhering to the UN Charter, international law and respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, the PMO statement added.
In a tweet, the Japanese Prime Minister said in the context of the Russian attack on Ukraine that unilateral changes of status quo by force were equally unacceptable in the Indo-Pacific.
“Unilateral changes to the status quo by force or coercion like the recent Russian aggression against #Ukraine are also unacceptable in the Indo-Pacific region. It is critically important for us to bring about a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Kishida said.
Biden said in a tweet: “I met with my fellow Quad leaders Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Prime Minister Kishida Fumio about Russia’s ongoing attack on Ukraine and our commitment to sovereignty and territorial integrity around the world, including in the Indo-Pacific.”
The Quad leaders – who met twice last year, once virtually and once in-person – agreed to meet again face-to-face in Tokyo in the coming months. The Indian PMO statement said the leaders would work towards an “ambitious agenda” for the forthcoming summit.
India is the only member of Quad that has largely refrained from criticising Russia’s actions in Ukraine, reflecting New Delhi’s long-standing defence and strategic ties with Moscow. In recent statements at the UN, however, it has called for respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states in the context of the developments in Ukraine.
Australia, Japan and the US have all condemned Russia’s “special military operation” in support of the breakaway Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk and imposed a wide range of sanctions targeting President Vladimir Putin, Russian banks and the economy.
The Indian statement announcing the holding of the summit said the leaders would exchange views on important developments in the Indo-Pacific and didn’t mention the Ukraine crisis. The White House schedule said the meet would “discuss the war against Ukraine and its implications for the Indo-Pacific.
