China expectedly loomed over the Quad foreign ministers’ meeting in Tokyo Monday as India, US, Australia and Japan expressed serious concern over Beijing’s “dangerous manoeuvres” in the South China Sea (SCS) and called for an Indo-Pacific in which no country dominates and no country is dominated.
In a first, India also joined others in upholding in a joint statement the 2016 arbitral tribunal award that refuted Beijing’s expansive claims over SCS waters in its maritime dispute with the Philippines as the basis for peacefully resolving such disputes.Foreign minister S Jaishankar and his US, Australia and Japan counterparts – Antony Blinken, Penny Wong and Yoko Kamikawa respectively – called the award a significant milestone and.
India had for the first time last year, in a joint statement with the Philippines, unambiguously asked China to adhere to the legally binding tribunal award Beijing has always called null and void. Before that India had restricted itself to only calling for respecting the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), under which the tribunal was instituted.
As they reassembled in Tokyo after the recent China-Philippines tensions, the ministers said they’re determined to contribute to maintaining and developing the free and open maritime order consistent with UNCLOS in the Indian and the Pacific Oceans, and for this purpose, to enhance collaboration with regional partners. They also announced initiatives to enhance regional maritime domain awareness in the Pacific through satellite data, training and capacity building. “In line with such efforts, we intend to geographically expand the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA) to the Indian Ocean region,” said the joint statement.
The ministers also committed to soon having the 2024 Quad summit which PM Narendra Modi is now looking to host on the margins of the UNGA in New York in September, pending the availability of Japanese PM Fumio Kishida. Japan is yet to confirm because the date for ruling LDP election might clash with the General Assembly session, making it difficult for him to travel abroad.
In his opening remarks, while talking about the need for Quad to uphold a rules-based order, Jaishankar said it’s only Quad collaboration that can ensure that the Indo-Pacific remains free, remains open, stable, secure and prosperous.
“It is therefore essential that our political understanding strengthens, our economic partnerships grow, our technology collaborations expand and our people-to-people comfort intensifies. Our meeting should send a clear message, that the Quad is here to stay, here to do and here to go,” he added
In their pushback against China, the Quad ministers backed sovereignty and territorial integrity, while also expressing commitment to address debt crises through sustainable, transparent and fair lending and financing practices. They expressed serious concern about the situation in the East and South China Seas, reiterating their strong opposition to any unilateral action to change the status quo by force or coercion.
“We continue to express our serious concern about the militarization of disputed features, and coercive and intimidating manoeuvres in the South China Sea. We also express our serious concern about the dangerous use of coast guard and maritime militia vessels, the increasing use of various kinds of dangerous manoeuvres, and efforts to disrupt other countries’ offshore resource exploitation activities,” said the joint statement.
According to the ministers, Quad is also looking to contribute to the region through capacity building cooperation for enhancing maritime security. “We intend to launch a Quad Maritime Legal Dialogue under the Quad Maritime Security Working Group to focus our expertise on international law of the sea issues in support of our efforts to uphold the rules-based maritime order in the Indo-Pacific,” said the statement.
In a first, India also joined others in upholding in a joint statement the 2016 arbitral tribunal award that refuted Beijing’s expansive claims over SCS waters in its maritime dispute with the Philippines as the basis for peacefully resolving such disputes.Foreign minister S Jaishankar and his US, Australia and Japan counterparts – Antony Blinken, Penny Wong and Yoko Kamikawa respectively – called the award a significant milestone and.
India had for the first time last year, in a joint statement with the Philippines, unambiguously asked China to adhere to the legally binding tribunal award Beijing has always called null and void. Before that India had restricted itself to only calling for respecting the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), under which the tribunal was instituted.
As they reassembled in Tokyo after the recent China-Philippines tensions, the ministers said they’re determined to contribute to maintaining and developing the free and open maritime order consistent with UNCLOS in the Indian and the Pacific Oceans, and for this purpose, to enhance collaboration with regional partners. They also announced initiatives to enhance regional maritime domain awareness in the Pacific through satellite data, training and capacity building. “In line with such efforts, we intend to geographically expand the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA) to the Indian Ocean region,” said the joint statement.
The ministers also committed to soon having the 2024 Quad summit which PM Narendra Modi is now looking to host on the margins of the UNGA in New York in September, pending the availability of Japanese PM Fumio Kishida. Japan is yet to confirm because the date for ruling LDP election might clash with the General Assembly session, making it difficult for him to travel abroad.
In his opening remarks, while talking about the need for Quad to uphold a rules-based order, Jaishankar said it’s only Quad collaboration that can ensure that the Indo-Pacific remains free, remains open, stable, secure and prosperous.
“It is therefore essential that our political understanding strengthens, our economic partnerships grow, our technology collaborations expand and our people-to-people comfort intensifies. Our meeting should send a clear message, that the Quad is here to stay, here to do and here to go,” he added
In their pushback against China, the Quad ministers backed sovereignty and territorial integrity, while also expressing commitment to address debt crises through sustainable, transparent and fair lending and financing practices. They expressed serious concern about the situation in the East and South China Seas, reiterating their strong opposition to any unilateral action to change the status quo by force or coercion.
“We continue to express our serious concern about the militarization of disputed features, and coercive and intimidating manoeuvres in the South China Sea. We also express our serious concern about the dangerous use of coast guard and maritime militia vessels, the increasing use of various kinds of dangerous manoeuvres, and efforts to disrupt other countries’ offshore resource exploitation activities,” said the joint statement.
According to the ministers, Quad is also looking to contribute to the region through capacity building cooperation for enhancing maritime security. “We intend to launch a Quad Maritime Legal Dialogue under the Quad Maritime Security Working Group to focus our expertise on international law of the sea issues in support of our efforts to uphold the rules-based maritime order in the Indo-Pacific,” said the statement.
