Quad leaders agree Ukraine experience should not be allowed in Indo-Pacific

Alliance members India, Japan, Australia and the US held a virtual meeting amid increased concern over China and Taiwan

The leaders issued a joint statement to ‘reaffirm their commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific’

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Ukrainian children look out from an evacuation train from Kyiv to Lviv as they say goodbye to their father on Thursday. Photo: Reuters

Published: 7:57am, 4 Mar 2022Updated: 12:52pm, 9 Mar 2022

Leaders of the Quad grouping of countries – the United States, India, Australia and Japan – agreed on Thursday that what is happening to Ukraine should not be allowed to happen in the Indo-Pacific, the prime ministers of Japan and Australia said.

A virtual meeting of the four-country grouping was held at a time of increased concern about Taiwan, a self-ruled island claimed by China that has stepped up its alert level since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, wary of Beijing taking advantage of a distracted West to move against it.

“We’ve agreed that unilateral changes to the status quo with force like this should not be allowed in the Indo-Pacific region,” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said, referring to Russia’s invasion.

“We’ve also agreed this development makes it even more important to work toward realising a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Kishida told reporters after the meeting with US President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“We cannot allow what is happening in Ukraine now to ever happen in the Indo-Pacific,” Morrison said in a statement after the meeting.