The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad), comprising India, the United States, Australia, and Japan, has issued a strong and unequivocal condemnation of the recent terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir.
In a comprehensive joint statement released following a high-level ministerial meeting in Washington, D.C., the foreign ministers of the four nations demanded swift justice for the victims of the heinous act and called for immediate international cooperation to bring the perpetrators, organisers, and financiers of the attack to justice.
The attack, which occurred on April 22, resulted in the tragic loss of 26 lives—25 of whom were Indian nationals and one a Nepali citizen. Several others sustained injuries in the incident, which has drawn widespread condemnation across the international community.
The foreign ministers—India’s External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong, and Japan’s Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya—extended their heartfelt condolences to the families of those killed and expressed their hopes for the speedy recovery of all those injured.
In their joint statement, the Quad leaders emphasized that such acts of terrorism cannot be tolerated under any circumstances. They urged that the individuals and entities responsible for planning, financing, and executing the Pahalgam attack must be identified and prosecuted at the earliest.
The ministers also appealed to all United Nations member states to uphold their commitments under international law and relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions by extending full cooperation to the concerned authorities in facilitating the investigation and legal proceedings.
While the statement strongly denounced terrorism and cross-border violence, it notably refrained from naming any specific country, including Pakistan, or referencing the brief but intense four-day military confrontation between Indian and Pakistani forces that occurred in May.
This omission appears to be in line with the Quad’s broader diplomatic strategy of focusing on collective action and multilateral coordination rather than direct attribution.
Apart from addressing terrorism, the Quad ministers also used the meeting to unveil a new initiative aimed at strengthening regional infrastructure and connectivity.
They announced the upcoming launch of the Quad Ports of the Future Partnership, which is scheduled to be inaugurated later this year in Mumbai. This initiative is expected to promote resilience, sustainability, and security in maritime infrastructure across the Indo-Pacific region.
Additionally, the Quad reaffirmed its commitment to maintaining peace and stability in the East China Sea and South China Sea.
The ministers voiced their deep concern over the increasingly aggressive and unilateral actions being undertaken in these contested maritime regions, clearly alluding to China’s growing military assertiveness.
They reiterated their firm opposition to any attempts to alter the status quo by force or coercion and underscored the importance of adhering to international law, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
