U.S. President Joe Biden met with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on March 12 in Washington, D.C., for the first leaders’ meeting under the Quadripartite Dialogue (Quad). Biden said via Twitter after the meeting that “the United States, Japan, India and Australia are committed to working together to address the common challenges we face and ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific region.”
The U.S., Japanese, Indian and Australian leaders issued a joint statement after the meeting to introduce and define the “spirit of the Quadripartite Dialogue.”
The statement reads, “1. We met to reaffirm our commitment to quadripartite cooperation between Australia, India, Japan and the United States. We bring diverse perspectives and unite for a common vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific. We strive to build a region that is free, open, inclusive, healthy, based on democratic values, and free from coercive constraints. We recall that our common efforts to achieve this positive vision stemmed from an international tragedy, the 2004 tsunami. Today, the global devastation caused by the new crown Epidemic, the threat of climate change, and the security challenges facing the region give us a new goal. At this historic moment on March 12, 2021, the first-ever summit at the level of the four leaders, we commit to strengthen our cooperation to address the defining challenges of our Time.”
The statement said, “2. We share a commitment to promote a free, open and rule-based order based on international law to promote security and prosperity and to address threats in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond. We support the rule of law, freedom of navigation and overflight, peaceful settlement of disputes, democratic values, and territorial integrity. We are committed to working together with a range of partners. We reaffirm our strong support for the unity and centrality of ASEAN and its Indo-Pacific Vision. The Quad is full of potential and looks to the future; it seeks to preserve peace and prosperity and strengthen democratic resilience based on universal values.”
The statement said, “3. Our shared goals require us to address the most pressing global challenges. Today, we are committed to addressing the economic and health impacts of the new crown epidemic, tackling climate change, and addressing common challenges, including in the areas of cyberspace, critical technologies, counterterrorism, quality infrastructure investments, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, and maritime affairs.”
The statement added, “4. We will build on the progress our countries have made in health security and work together to expand the production of and equitable access to safe, affordable and effective vaccines to accelerate economic recovery and benefit global health. We have a strong commitment to the health and safety of our populations, but we also recognize that none of us can be safe as long as the epidemic continues to spread. We will therefore work in close coordination with multilateral organizations, including the World Health Organization and the Global Mechanism for Vaccine Access (COVAX), to strengthen equitable access to vaccines in the Indo-Pacific region. We call on the WHO to undertake transparent and results-oriented reforms.”
The statement said, “We are united in recognizing that climate change is a global priority and will work to strengthen climate action in all countries, including by maintaining temperature limits consistent with the Paris Agreement. We look forward to a successful COP 26 in Glasgow. We will begin to collaborate on key technologies for the future to ensure that innovation is consistent with a free, open, inclusive and resilient Indo-Pacific.”
The statement said, “We will continue to prioritize the role of international law in the maritime domain, particularly as embodied in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and promote cooperation, including on maritime security, to address challenges to the rules-based maritime order in the East and South China Seas. We reaffirm our commitment to the complete denuclearization of the DPRK in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions, and recognize the need to resolve the issue of Japanese abductees without delay. As long-time supporters of Burma and its people, we emphasize the urgent need to restore democracy and prioritize strengthening democratic resilience.”
The statement said, “5. To advance these and other goals, we will redouble our commitment to the four nations’ engagement. We will combine our countries’ medical, scientific, financing, manufacturing and delivery, and development capacities and establish a working group of vaccine experts to fulfill our groundbreaking commitment to the safe and effective distribution of vaccines; we will establish a working group on critical and emerging technologies to promote collaboration on international standards and future innovative technologies; and we will establish a working group on climate to strengthen global efforts in climate action on mitigation, adaptation, resilience, technology, capacity building, and climate finance. Our experts and senior officials will continue to meet regularly; our foreign ministers will have a regular dialogue and meet at least once a year.”
At the leaders’ level, we will hold a face-to-face summit by the end of 2021,” the leaders said. The ambition of these events has evolved with the times; we are committed to using our partnership to help the world’s most dynamic region respond to historic crises and make it the free, open, accessible, diverse and prosperous Indo-Pacific we all seek.”
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