The joint statement, issued after the leaders of Japan,
Australia, India and the United States met for a summit in Tokyo on Tuesday,
did not mention China by name, but the finger-pointing was clear.
The leaders were less clear when it came to Russia. The
joint statement avoided blaming Russia directly for the war in Ukraine and only
described the situation there as a ‘tragic crisis’.
The nuanced position reflected the difficult position of
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has so far avoided tarnishing India's
long-standing friendship with Moscow. In his opening remarks, Modi said a free,
open and inclusive Indo-Pacific is a shared objective of all of us, but did not
mention Russia or Ukraine.
US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio
Kishida, new Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Modi met for two
hours at the Japanese Prime Minister's office for the fourth summit of the
group and their second in-person meeting, after one in Washington last
September.
The attendance of Albanese, sworn in just a day earlier,
reflected how prominent a platform the QUAD has become since the four countries
formed an unofficial core group to lead the international assistance after the
2004 Sumatra earthquake.
"Since we last met in person in September, an incident
that overturns the rules-based international order has happened the Russian
invasion of Ukraine," Kishida said in introductory remarks. "It is a
blatant challenge to the principles set in the United Nations charter. We must
not allow the same thing to happen in the Indo-Pacific."
Albanese, who was offered the opportunity to speak first
after Kishida, said, "My government is committed to working with your
countries and we are committed to the Quad.
"The new Australian government's priorities align with
the QUAD agenda, taking action on climate change, and building a stronger and
more resilient Indo-Pacific region through better economic security, better
cybersecurity, better energy security and better environmental and health
security," Albanese said.
Biden said that the world is navigating a dark hour in our
shared history, in reference to the Ukraine war. This is more than just a
European issue. It's a global issue.
"As long as Russia continues the war, the United States
will work with our partners to help lead a global response because it's going
to affect all parts of the world," Biden said.
Meanwhile, Modi commended the group's coordination in areas
such as coronavirus vaccine delivery and climate actions, and said: "The
QUAD has a constructive agenda for the Indo-Pacific, which will further
strengthen its image as a force for good."
A joint statement issued after the meeting indirectly
slammed China's actions in the East and South China seas.
"We strongly oppose any coercive, provocative or
unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo and increase tensions in
the area, such as the militarization of disputed features, the dangerous use of
coast guard vessels and maritime militia, and efforts to disrupt other
countries' offshore resource exploitation activities," it said.
The leaders agreed to hold the next in-person summit in
Australia next year.
India's role in the regional security landscape is becoming
more critical, after the border clashes of June 2020 made India's military one
of the very few to have faced the Chinese People's Liberation Army on the field
in recent years.
The QUAD summit comes three months after Russia's invasion
of Ukraine, which has raised concerns in Asia about unilateral changes to the
status quo.
India has historically had strong defense ties with Russia
and abstained from United Nations votes against Moscow, taking a stance
distinct from other QUAD members. As such, how the four QUAD nations will unite
and align over the pressing security issues will be closely watched.
Shamshad Ahmad Khan, an Assistant Professor of International
Relations at the BITS Pilani Dubai Campus, said the QUAD summit is taking place
at a time when the Russian onslaught in Ukraine continues, North Korea is
planning another missile test, experts in strategic circles are speculating on
a Ukraine-type invasion of Taiwan by China, and Beijing's expansionist designs
are a cause of security concerns for Japan and India.
Khan said China remains the biggest geopolitical challenge
for India but added that given the economic interdependence of the two
countries, they are involved in a dialogue to resolve their boundary issues.
"India is not likely to aggressively counterbalance
China, and that is visible when you see the QUAD taking up softer security
issues, climate change, vaccine diplomacy, while the newly formed AUKUS
alliance of Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States aims to take up
increasing defense cooperation to counterbalance China, he told Nikkei Asia.
Srikanth Kondapalli, a professor of Chinese studies at the
Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, agreed that India sees Beijing as its
biggest geopolitical challenge but took a different view on economic
interdependence.
The professor said that India - which is estimated to grow
at a rate of about 8% in the ongoing financial year - has received only US$8.2
billion investment from China. "That is quite a ridiculous amount,"
he said, observing that in contrast Beijing has invested a whopping US$52
billion in Pakistan, whose economy is going through a crisis.
At the QUAD, the leaders discussed a new maritime initiative
called the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA),
which will connect existing surveillance centers in India, Singapore, the
Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to share information and monitor activities on the
sea.
"This addresses a real need and something that the
administration has heard a true demand signal from almost across the region ...
The ability to know what is happening in countries' territorial waters and in
their exclusive economic zones," a senior US administration official told
reporters.
After the summit, the leaders held an event to open
applications for the Quad Fellowship, which will sponsor 100 American,
Australian, Indian, and Japanese students to study in the US for graduate
degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.
The QUAD meeting came on the last day of Biden's five-day
Asia trip, which will likely be remembered for the president's bombshell
statement on Monday that the US would be willing to use force to defend Taiwan.
On Tuesday, Biden was asked by a reporter if the policy of
strategic ambiguity toward Taiwan was dead. He responded, "No."
Asked to elaborate, the president said "No,"
again.
Asked whether he would send troops to Taiwan if China
invaded, Biden only noted, "The policy has not changed at all. I stated
that when I made my statement yesterday."
