Quad leaders press for free Indo-Pacific, with wary eye on China
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Splash
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Long Read
  • Games
  • Epaper
  • More
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Subscribe
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard
WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2022
WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2022
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Splash
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Long Read
  • Games
  • Epaper
  • More
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Subscribe
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
Quad leaders press for free Indo-Pacific, with wary eye on China

World+Biz

Reuters
25 September, 2021, 08:55 am
Last modified: 25 September, 2021, 10:36 am

Related News

  • China seeks Pacific islands policing, security cooperation - document
  • China seeks Pacific islands policing, security cooperation
  • Tightening Covid net, Beijing deals out punishments, stark warnings
  • First direct container ship to China leaves Ctg port
  • US says China and Russia bomber drill shows depth of their alignment

Quad leaders press for free Indo-Pacific, with wary eye on China

While China was not mentioned in the public remarks by the four leaders or in the lengthy joint statement and a factsheet issued afterwards, Beijing was clearly top of mind

Reuters
25 September, 2021, 08:55 am
Last modified: 25 September, 2021, 10:36 am
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks during a 'Quad nations' meeting at the Leaders' Summit of the Quadrilateral Framework hosted by US President Joe Biden with Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga in the East Room at the White House in Washington, US, September 24, 2021. Photo :Reuters
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks during a 'Quad nations' meeting at the Leaders' Summit of the Quadrilateral Framework hosted by US President Joe Biden with Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga in the East Room at the White House in Washington, US, September 24, 2021. Photo :Reuters

Leaders of the United States, Japan, India and Australia vowed on Friday to pursue a free and open Indo-Pacific region "undaunted by coercion" at their first in-person summit, which presented a united front amid shared concerns about China.

The two-hour meeting at the White House of the Quad, as the grouping of four major democracies is called, will be watched closely in Beijing, which criticized the group as "doomed to fail."

" We stand for the rule of law, freedom of navigation and overflight, peaceful resolution of disputes, democratic values, and territorial integrity of states," US President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a joint statement after the talks.

While China was not mentioned in the public remarks by the four leaders or in the lengthy joint statement and a factsheet issued afterwards, Beijing was clearly top of mind.

Their statement made frequent mention of the leaders' insistence on rules-based behavior in a region where China has been trying to flex its muscles.

"Together, we  recommit to promoting  the free, open, rules-based order, rooted in  international law and undaunted by coercion, to bolster security and prosperity  in the Indo-Pacific and beyond," they said.

The Quad leaders also voiced support for small island states, especially those in the Pacific, in order to enhance their economic and environmental resilience.

Additionally, they urged North Korea to engage in diplomacy over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, which Pyongyang has refused to do unless international sanctions are dropped.

The leaders took steps to expand vaccines worldwide, welcoming India's plan to resume exports in October.

After the meeting, Suga told reporters the countries agreed to cooperate on vaccines, clean energy and space, and to hold a summit meeting every year.

Modi told his fellow Quad leaders India would permit export of 8 million COVID-19 vaccine doses by the end of October under a deal the grouping reached in March to supply a billion doses to the Indo-Pacific, India's foreign secretary said.

The plan to supply a billion doses across Asia by the end of 2022 stalled after India, the world's largest vaccine producer, banned exports in April amid a massive COVID outbreak at home.

India has said when it restarts vaccine exports it will prioritize the COVAX international vaccine initiative and neighboring countries.

The Quad announced several new pacts, including one to bolster supply chain security for semiconductors and to combat illegal fishing and boost maritime domain awareness.

It also rolled out a 5G partnership and plans to track climate change.

"Acknowledging the role of governments in fostering an enabling environment for 5G diversification, we will work together to facilitate public-private cooperation and demonstrate in 2022 the scalability and cyber security of open, standards-based technology," the leaders said.

The meeting came just over a week after the United States, Britain and Australia announced an AUKUS security pact that will provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines, a move roundly denounced by Beijing.

A Japanese government spokesman said Suga told the meeting that Japan considered the AUKUS partnership to be "taking an important role for the peace and stability of the Indo-Pacific region."

US officials had sought to play down the security aspect of the Quad before the meeting, even though members carry out naval drills together and share concerns about China's growing power and attempts to exert pressure on all four countries.

Morrison said AUKUS and the Quad were "mutually reinforcing."

He told reporters, "That's the whole point of the Quad and AUKUS. They're not there to replace anything but to add to it."

In a briefing on Friday a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman appeared to criticize the Quad, or Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, as it is formally known.

"A closed, exclusive clique targeting other countries runs counter to the trend of the times and the aspirations of regional countries," said the spokesman, Zhao Lijian.

"It will find no support and is doomed to fail."

China has denounced the Quad as a Cold War construct and says the AUKUS alliance would intensify a regional arms race. 

Top News

QUAD / china / White House

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Photo: Collected
    Bangladesh among top 20 prospective solar farm capacity nations
  • Bangladesh Bank to sit with ABB, BAFEDA Thursday
    Bangladesh Bank to sit with ABB, BAFEDA Thursday
  • A man counts Pakistani banknotes along a roadside in Islamabad, Pakistan, November 16, 2017. REUTERS/Faisal Mahmood
    Pakistani rupee nosedives against US dollar as political crisis deepens

MOST VIEWED

  • Pakistan SC allows PTI to stage protest at Islamabad's H-9, restrains govt from arresting marchers
    Pakistan SC allows PTI to stage protest at Islamabad's H-9, restrains govt from arresting marchers
  • Ears of wheat are seen in a field near the village of Hrebeni in Kyiv region, Ukraine July 17, 2020. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko//File Photo
    UN's grain-for-fertiliser plan holds little appeal for Moscow
  • FILE PHOTO: People walk past the Central Bank headquarters in Moscow, Russia February 11, 2019. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo
    Brussels says about $24B of Russian central bank assets frozen in EU, less than expected
  • Imran Khan waves to supporters on a truck. —PTI/Twitter
    Azadi March: Imran expected to reach Islamabad soon, PTI asks supporters to take to the streets
  • Police and security personnel escort pro-independence party Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front chairman Yasin Malik (C) to holding area after a sentencing hearing at Patiala House court in New Delhi on May 25, 2022. — AFP
    Indian court orders life in jail for JKLF chief Yasin Malik
  • U.S. one dollar banknotes are seen in this illustration taken February 8, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo/File Photo
    As US economy's exceptionalism fades, so does the dollar

Related News

  • China seeks Pacific islands policing, security cooperation - document
  • China seeks Pacific islands policing, security cooperation
  • Tightening Covid net, Beijing deals out punishments, stark warnings
  • First direct container ship to China leaves Ctg port
  • US says China and Russia bomber drill shows depth of their alignment

Features

Psycure has received various awards for their extraordinary contributions to promoting Sustainable Development Goals. Photo: Courtesy

Psycure: Meet the organisation serving the underserved university students (and beyond) with mental healthcare 

11h | Panorama
Underlying problems such as school dropouts need to be addressed first before taking a legal route to stop child labour. Photo: Reuters

‘Child labour in a country like Bangladesh is primarily a development issue, not so much of enforcement’

12h | Panorama
The balcony railings of the Boro Sardar Bari in Sonargaon. Made of cast iron, these railings feature vertical posts with intricate designs on top. Photo: Noor-A-Alam

The evolution of railing and grille designs

1d | Habitat
A Russian army service member fires a howitzer during drills at the Kuzminsky range in the southern Rostov region, Russia January 26, 2022. REUTERS/Sergey Pivovarov/File Photo

3 months of Ukraine war : Miscalculations, resistance and redirected focus

1d | Analysis

More Videos from TBS

Where the people have more weapons than military

Where the people have more weapons than military

Now | Videos
Govt plans to amnesty in the offing to bring back laundered money to meet dollar crises

Govt plans to amnesty in the offing to bring back laundered money to meet dollar crises

2h | Videos
Poet Nazrul Islam’s 123rd birth anniversary observed

Poet Nazrul Islam’s 123rd birth anniversary observed

2h | Videos
Soaring commodity prices put pressure on budget

Soaring commodity prices put pressure on budget

6h | Videos

Most Read

1
Tk100 for bike, Tk2,400 for bus to cross Padma Bridge
Bangladesh

Tk100 for bike, Tk2,400 for bus to cross Padma Bridge

2
A packet of US five-dollar bills is inspected at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington March 26, 2015. REUTERS/Gary Cameron
Banking

Dollar hits Tk100 mark in open market

3
Bangladesh at risk of losing ownership of Banglar Samriddhi
Bangladesh

Bangladesh at risk of losing ownership of Banglar Samriddhi

4
BSEC launches probe against Abul Khayer Hero and allies
Stocks

BSEC launches probe against Abul Khayer Hero and allies

5
The reception is a volumetric box-shaped room that has two glass walls on both the front and back ends and the other two walls are adorned with interior plants, wood and aluminium screens. Photo: Noor-A-Alam
Habitat

The United House: Living and working inside nature

6
Illustration: TBS
Banking

Let taka slide

The Business Standard
Top
  • Home
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • About Us
  • Bangladesh
  • International
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Economy
  • Sitemap
  • RSS

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net

Copyright © 2022 THE BUSINESS STANDARD All rights reserved. Technical Partner: RSI Lab