‘Ungoverned spaces’ in Afghanistan pose direct threat: Quad

The foreign ministers of the Quadrilateral Security Group, or Quad, on Friday assessed the security challenges posed by the situation in Myanmar and Ukraine, and warned that “ungoverned spaces” in Afghanistan pose a direct threat to the security of the Indo-Pacific.

Quad members India, Australia, Japan and the US expressed serious concern about the situation in Myanmar after the foreign ministers met in Melbourne. The situation in Ukraine didn’t find a mention in a joint statement, but US secretary of state Antony Blinken said the “core principles threatened by Russia’s aggression” were also crucial for stability in the Indo-Pacific.

The joint statement said, without naming Pakistan, that all countries should ensure “territory under their control is not used to launch terror attacks and to expeditiously bring to justice the perpetrators of such attacks”.

Blinken, external affairs minister S Jaishankar, Australian foreign minister Marise Payne and Japanese foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi reiterated their condemnation of terror attacks in India, including the 2008 Mumbai and 2016 Pathankot attacks.

The Quad said it is “gravely concerned” about the crisis in Myanmar following last year’s military coup, and called for an end to violence, the release of all arbitrarily detained persons, including foreigners, and unhindered humanitarian access.

“We reaffirm our support for Asean efforts to seek a solution in Myanmar and call on the military regime to urgently implement Asean’s Five-Point Consensus and swiftly return Myanmar to the path of democracy. We encourage the international community to work together to support an end to the violence,” the statement said.

Jaishankar said that the members of the Quad were troubled by Myanmar’s move away from the path of democratic transition.

India, as an immediate neighbour, has “very specific concerns” about insurgents operating in Myanmar who killed a senior military officer and his family, the Covid-19 pandemic and the lack of vaccination along the common border, and the humanitarian situation arising from food shortages, he said.

Jaishankar was referring to the ambush on an Assam Rifles convoy in Manipur in November last year that killed Col Viplav Tripathi, his family and four more soldiers.