Devirupa Mitra 
New Delhi: For the first time, the foreign ministers of the Quad countries – India, the United States, Japan, and Australia – have called for an “immediate and prolonged ceasefire” in Gaza and emphasised the need to prevent the conflict from escalating into a regional conflagration.
This declaration was made in a joint statement released after their ministerial meeting held in Tokyo on Monday. This is the first formal Quad ministerial summit since the outbreak of the Gaza invasion by Israel, which was triggered by Hamas’ terror attack on October 7.
The joint statement “unequivocally” condemned the October 7 attack but also stated that the large loss of civilian lives in Gaza is “unacceptable”. More than 39,000, mostly civilians, were killed due to Israeli military actions in Gaza, while 2.3 million people have been rendered homeless, Palestinian authorities claim.
The United States is currently trying to nudge Israel to accept a proposal for a hostage and ceasefire deal, but there is concern that the Israeli Prime Minister may be deliberately delaying any agreement.
Meanwhile, war clouds have gathered fast and furious, with the Israeli cabinet on Monday approving a military response to the rocket attack from Lebanon-based Hezbollah against the Golan Heights that killed 12 children.
India has also issued an advisory to its nationals in Lebanon to “exercise caution” in light of “recent developments”.
The Quad joint statement also spoke about the “crucial need to prevent regional escalation.”
While there is no direct reference to the recent ICJ orders, the Quad ministers also called for “all parties to comply with international law, including international humanitarian law, as applicable.”
There were also repeated exhortations for easing the humanitarian crisis by protecting the lives of civilians and aid workers, and increasing deliveries of humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza.
Children in Gaza. Photo: X/@DrTedros
Further, the four countries emphasised the need to move forward with the two-state solution, while implicitly criticizing the recent Israeli parliamentary resolution against Palestinian statehood and the government’s expansion of recognized settlements in the West Bank.
“Any unilateral actions that undermine the prospect of a two-state solution, including Israeli expansion of settlements and violent extremism on all sides, must end. We underscore the need to prevent the conflict from escalating and spilling over in the region,” said the joint statement. The necessity to prevent the spillover of Gaza violence into a regional war was mentioned twice in the same paragraph.
Incidentally, the US and its treaty allies, Japan and Australia, had recently announced sanctions against individual Israeli settlers for violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
The United States has been Israel’s staunchest ally, but the Biden administration has increasingly shown frustration with the Netanyahu government. With only a few months left in President Biden’s term, his presidential legacy is also increasingly being viewed through the lens of Gaza and his ability to forge a lasting ceasefire.
India has not independently called for a ceasefire in Gaza, but it has voted for UN resolutions that call for the same. New Delhi also endorsed the joint statements of the SCO heads of states in July and the BRICS foreign ministers in June, both of which called for an “immediate, durable, and sustained ceasefire”.
Further, the Quad foreign ministers also condemned the attacks by Houthis against international vessels transiting through the Red Sea, claiming that these “destabilize the region, impede navigational rights and freedoms, and trade flows, and jeopardize the safety of vessels and people on board including sailors”.
The joint statement had also a paragraph on the Ukraine war calling for “comprehensive, just, and lasting peace. “In the context of this war, we share the view that the use, or threat of use, of nuclear weapons is unacceptable”.
While the statement specifically emphasized the need to respect the UN Charter and uphold sovereignty and territorial integrity, it did not mention Russia by name.
Quad backs 2016 arbitral tribunal award
Meanwhile, the four ministers also had their eyes on China as they signalled growing anxiety about the situation in the East and South China Seas.
Significantly, for the first time, the Quad joint statement collectively backed the 2016 Arbitral Tribunal ruling that favoured the Philippines in the South China Sea dispute, a decision not recognized by China.
“We reiterate that the award rendered by the Arbitral Tribunal on July 12, 2016, is a significant milestone, and the basis for peacefully resolving disputes between the parties,” said the joint statement.
While Australia, Japan, and the US had always supported the arbitral tribunal award, India shifted its position in July last year.
The introduction of stronger language by the Quad also comes against the backdrop of the recent escalation in tension between China and the Philippines over the Second Thomas Shoal dispute.
On June 17, Chinese soldiers reportedly boarded two Filipino naval boats in order to stop resupplying of provisions, including food and weapons, to an outpost of the Philippines at the shoal.
“We are seriously concerned about the situation in the East and South China Seas and reiterate our strong opposition to any unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion,” the Quad ministers said in the joint statement.
As in previous statements, the Quad also noted “the militarization of disputed features, and coercive and intimidating manoeuvres in the South China Sea” without explicitly naming China.
The ministers announced the launch of a Quad Maritime Legal Dialogue “to focus our expertise on international law of the sea issues in support of our efforts to uphold the rules-based maritime order in the Indo-Pacific”.
Besides, they also planned to boost the capacity of regional countries to increase their maritime domain awareness to combat illegal fishing and predict natural disasters.
The ministers also unveiled plans for a “Quad Cyber Ambassadors Meeting” aimed at promoting responsible conduct in cyberspace and advancing cyber capacity-building initiatives. Additionally, they have pledged to tackle the issue of disinformation.
Reacting strongly to the Tokyo meeting, China said on Monday that the Quad has been “scaremongering, inciting antagonism and confrontation, and holding back other countries’ development”.
“China firmly opposes the bloc confrontation they incite in the name of “anti-coercion”, and the imposition of their house rules in the name of maintaining order. We call on countries outside the region to earnestly respect the effort of regional countries for peace and stability, and stop fanning flames and fueling tensions in the region,” said the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian.
On the anti-terrorism front, the Quad foreign ministers reiterated the May 2023 joint statement by their leaders, calling for justice for the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai and Pathankot attacks. They condemned cross-border terrorism and demanded “concerted action against all UN-listed terrorist groups including Al-Qa’ida, ISIS/Daesh, Lashkar e-Tayyiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), and their proxy groups”.
Additionally, the foreign ministers confirmed that the Quad Leaders’ summit will take place this year.
Although India will officially host the summit, the leaders are expected to convene in New York during the UN General Assembly in September. There is some uncertainty regarding the exact date, as Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida needs to be in Japan for internal party elections around that period.