Quad calls for punishing perpetrators of Pahalgam terror

The Quad grouping has called for bringing the perpetrators, organisers and financiers of the Pahalgam terror attack to justice without any delay and urged UN member nations to extend cooperation for it. The foreign ministers of the four-nation grouping met in the US capital on Tuesday to firm up a broad agenda for the bloc’s annual summit in India later this year. The Quad condemned the April 22 attack in the strongest terms and strongly pitched for action against cross-border terrorism. In a joint statement, the foreign ministers, however, did not mention Pakistan or the four-day military conflict between the Indian and Pakistani militaries in May. The meeting was attended by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and her Japanese counterpart Takeshi Iwaya. We express our deepest condolences to the families of the victims and extend our heartfelt wishes for a swift and full recovery to all those injured,” they said. “We call for the perpetrators, organisers, and financiers of this reprehensible act to be brought to justice without any delay and urge all UN Member States, in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant UN Security Council Resolutions, to cooperate actively with all relevant authorities in this regard,” they added. The Quad foreign ministers also expressed serious concern over Beijing’s military muscle-flexing in the East China Sea and the South China Sea. “We reiterate our strong opposition to any unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion,” they said without directly mentioning China. The Quad foreign ministers specifically highlighted the “dangerous and provocative actions, including interference with offshore resource development, the repeated obstruction of the freedoms of navigation and overflight, and the dangerous manoeuvres by military aircraft and coast guard and maritime militia vessels.” In this context, they mentioned the “unsafe use of water cannons and ramming or blocking actions in the South China Sea” and said these actions threaten peace and stability in the region. “We are seriously concerned by the militarisation of disputed features. We emphasise the importance of upholding freedom of navigation and overflight, other lawful uses of the sea, and unimpeded commerce consistent with international law, as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS),” the ministers said.