In signal to China, Modi says Quad ‘not against anyone but we are here to stay’

The Quad declaration, adopted after the summit, focused on “militarisation” and “intimidating maneuvers in the South China Sea”. It also addressed other key global issues, including the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza. The declaration highlighted the “negative impacts of the war in Ukraine with regard to global food and energy security”. It emphasised that a hostage deal would lead to ceasefire in Gaza, and underscored “the urgent need to significantly increase deliveries of life-saving humanitarian assistance” and “prevent regional escalation”.

US President Joe Biden, Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took part in a Quad leaders summit. (Reuters Photo)

The Quad leaders also announced the Quad Cancer Moonshot — a groundbreaking partnership that will focus initially on combating cervical cancer in the Indo-Pacific region while laying the groundwork to address other forms of cancer as well.

It was clear, however, that China was the elephant in the room. In his opening remarks, caught on the hot mic as pool reporters were leaving the summit venue at Biden’s high school Archmere Academy in Wilmington, the US President said his administration sees Beijing’s actions as a “change in tactic, not a change in strategy”.

“China continues to behave aggressively, testing us all across the region, and it’s true in the South China Sea, the East China Sea, South China, South Asia and the Taiwan Straits… At least from our perspective, we believe (Chinese President) Xi Jinping is looking to focus on domestic economic challenges and minimise the turbulence in China’s diplomatic relationships, and he’s also looking to buy himself some diplomatic space, in my view, to aggressively pursue China’s interest,” Biden said, according to an AP report.

Biden added that China continues to test “us all across the region on several fronts, including on economic and technology issues”. “At the same time, we believe intense competition requires intense diplomacy,” he said.

US President Joe Biden welcomes Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Quad leaders summit in Claymont, Delaware, US. (Reuters Photo)

Speaking earlier, Modi called for a “free, open, inclusive, and prosperous Indo-Pacific”. “We have collaboratively undertaken numerous positive and inclusive initiatives in areas such as health, security, critical and emerging technologies, climate change, and capacity building. Our message is unequivocal: QUAD is here to stay, to assist, to partner, and to complement,” he said. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri later said Modi described Quad as “Quick, Unified, Assistance, Delivery”.

The US President, too, reiterated: “While challenges will come, the world will change, but the Quad is here to stay.”

Biden said, “…today, we have announced initiatives that deliver real positive impact for the Indo-Pacific, which includes providing new maritime technologies to our regional partners so they know what’s happening in their waters, launching cooperation between Coast Guards for the first time, and expanding the Quad fellowship to include students from Southeast Asia.”

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida warned that the “security environment surrounding ourselves is becoming increasingly severe, and the free and open international order based on the rule of law is under threat”. “…it is ever more important for us, the Quad, who share values such as freedom and democracy, to continue to demonstrate our firm commitment to our common vision of free and open Indo Pacific, to the international community,” he said.

Australian PM Anthony Albanese said “the Quad is about practical, meaningful outcomes in strategic areas”, and that “the promise in the region does depend on continued peace and stability and the wise management of strategic competition and disputes”.

Speaking earlier, Modi called for a “free, open, inclusive, and prosperous Indo-Pacific.” (AP Photo)

The Wilmington Declaration was categorical. “As four leading maritime democracies in the Indo-Pacific, we unequivocally stand for the maintenance of peace and stability across this dynamic region, as an indispensable element of global security and prosperity. We strongly oppose any destabilising or unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion. We condemn recent illicit missile launches in the region that violate UN Security Council resolutions,” it said.

“We express serious concern over recent dangerous and aggressive actions in the maritime domain. We seek a region where no country dominates and no country is dominated — one where all countries are free from coercion, and can exercise their agency to determine their futures. We are united in our commitment to upholding a stable and open international system, with its strong support for human rights, the principle of freedom, rule of law, democratic values, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and peaceful settlement of disputes and prohibition on the threat or use of force in accordance with international law, including the UN Charter,” it said.

The paragraph on the South China Sea was more sharply worded than in the past. “We are seriously concerned about the situation in the East and South China Seas. We continue to express our serious concern about the militarisation of disputed features, and coercive and intimidating maneuvers in the South China Sea. We condemn the dangerous use of coast guard and maritime militia vessels, including increasing use of dangerous maneuvers. We also oppose efforts to disrupt other countries’ offshore resource exploitation activities,” the declaration said.

It also “underscored that the 2016 Arbitral Award on the South China Sea is a significant milestone and the basis for peacefully resolving disputes between the parties”. The reference was to a ruling by an international tribunal that China has no legal basis to claim “historic rights” to islands in the South China Sea — a ruling that Beijing has rejected.

In a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the declaration said, “We express our deepest concern over the war raging in Ukraine including the terrible and tragic humanitarian consequences. Each of us has visited Ukraine since the war began, and seen this first-hand; we reiterate the need for a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in line with international law, consistent with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, including respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Echoing India’s stance as a voice of the Global South, the declaration said, “We also note the negative impacts of the war in Ukraine with regard to global food and energy security, especially for developing and least developed countries. In the context of this war, we share the view that the use, or threat of use, of nuclear weapons is unacceptable.”

The Quad declaration, adopted after the summit, focused on “militarisation” and “intimidating maneuvers in the South China Sea.” (Reuters Photo)

On the Israel-Hamas war and rising tension in West Asia, it said, “We unequivocally condemn the terror attacks on October 7, 2023. The large scale loss of civilian lives and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is unacceptable. We affirm the imperative of securing the release of all hostages held by Hamas and emphasise that the deal to release hostages would bring an immediate and prolonged ceasefire in Gaza. We underscore the urgent need to significantly increase deliveries of life-saving humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza as well as the crucial need to prevent regional escalation.”

The declaration also “condemned the ongoing attacks perpetrated by the Houthis and their supporters against international and commercial vessels transiting through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, which are destabilising the region and impeding navigational rights and freedoms and trade flows, and jeopardise the safety of vessels and people on board including sailors”.