US President Joe Biden, opening talks with the leaders of three “close democratic partners”, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying it was not going to happen. was not just a European problem but a global one.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida echoed these words when he said that the same thing should not be allowed to happen in Asia.
Taiwan was not an official item on the Quad’s agenda, a US official said, but it was expected to be an important topic, a day after Biden broke convention and offered the US military support for the self-governing island claimed by China.
“It’s more than a European issue, it’s a global issue,” Biden said of Ukraine as talks, including Australia’s new prime minister, Anthony Albanese, began.
Mr. Biden stressed that the United States will stand with its allies in pushing for a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
“Russia’s aggression against Ukraine only reinforces the importance of these objectives of fundamental principles of international order, territorial integrity and sovereignty. International law, human rights must always be defended wherever in the world they are violated,” he said.
Mr. Kishida said that the Russian invasion “shakes the foundations of the international order” and constitutes a direct challenge to the principles of the United Nations.
“We should not allow similar things to happen in the Indo-Pacific region,” he said.
Modi made no comment on Ukraine or Russia in his remarks. India has frustrated the United States with what it sees as a lack of support for US-led sanctions and condemnation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Although India has developed close ties with the United States in recent years and is a key part of the Quad grouping aimed at repelling China, it also has a long-standing relationship with Russia, which remains a supplier major source of its defense equipment and its oil supplies.
India abstained in UN Security Council votes on Russia’s invasion, although it has expressed concern over some killings of Ukrainian civilians.
AN “AMBITIOUS ACTION”.
The Australian Albanian, who is making his international debut as prime minister, told the group that his priorities were aligned with theirs and he pledged to invest more in the fight against climate change in a region where island nations of the South Pacific face some of the most direct risks of rising waters.
“The region expects us to work with it and lead by example,” he said.
“That’s why my government will take ambitious action on climate change and increase our support to partners in the region working to tackle it, including through new funding.”
On India’s position on Ukraine, a US official said Biden would seek common ground, stressing the importance of a face-to-face meeting.
“It is true that with all the members of the quadrilateral there are differences, the question is how they are approached and how they are managed,” the official said during a briefing to journalists before the talks.
One of the key questions for the United States ahead of the quadrilateral meeting was how to wean India off Russian-supplied military equipment and whether to provide defense aid and other forms of support to India. to accelerate this transition.
The United States is considering $4 billion in ‘investment support’ for India on top of billions previously agreed, New Delhi said on Monday after the two sides signed an agreement on manufacturing the COVID vaccine. -19, health care, renewable energy, financial inclusion and infrastructure.