The following is a joint reading published by the Secretary of State of the United States and the Foreign Ministers of the Governments of Australia, India and Japan.
Initial text:
We, the Secretary of State of the United States and the Foreign Ministers of Australia, India and Japan, met in New York on the sidelines of the 77th United Nations General Assembly to deepen Quad multilateral cooperation in support of the advancement of a free and open Indo-Pacific that is inclusive and resistant. The Quad vision is a region where a rules-based international order is upheld and where the principles of freedom, rule of law, democratic values, peaceful resolution of disputes, sovereignty and territorial integrity are respected.
We reaffirmed our belief that international maritime law, peace and security support the development and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific. We strongly oppose any unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo or increase tensions in the region. We also reaffirmed our unwavering support for the unity and centrality of ASEAN, the ASEAN-led regional architecture and the practical implementation of ASEAN’s Indo-Pacific vision.
Meeting here among the nations of the world, we underscored the Quartet’s unwavering support for the UN Charter, including its three pillars, and our unwavering commitment to strengthening and reforming the UN and the international system. The Quad affirmed its support for the UN, which addresses the consequential challenges of our time and safeguards our shared and interconnected resources. This includes the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. We are committed to advancing a comprehensive UN reform agenda, including expanding the permanent and non-permanent seats of the UN Security Council so that the Council reflects current global realities and includes more geographically diverse perspectives. We emphasized the need to address attempts to unilaterally undermine the international and multilateral system, including in the UN.
We welcomed progress in meeting the Quad commitments. We were particularly pleased to sign the guidelines for the operationalization of the Quad Humanitarian and Disaster Relief Partnership for the Indo-Pacific announced by the Quad Leaders in May 2022. We look forward to the counter-terrorism tabletop exercise hosted by Australia later in 2022, and we published a ransomware statement calling on countries to take reasonable steps to address ransomware operations originating from their territories. We reiterated the Quad’s commitment to supporting regional partners’ efforts to improve their maritime security and domain awareness. We support ongoing efforts, in close collaboration with regional partners, to advance the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Awareness. We will continue to leverage our collective expertise to support the region in responding to other challenges, such as education and disinformation, and to advance initiatives set forth by Quad leaders on health security, climate change, infrastructure, peaceful uses of space, critical and emerging technologies and cyber security.
We, the Foreign Ministers of the Quartet, have decided that our vision for the multilateral cooperation of the Quartet will be based on action-oriented cooperation for the benefit of the people of the Indo-Pacific. We intend to meet in person at the next Quartet of Foreign Ministers meeting in New Delhi in early 2023.
