Joint Readout of Quad Ministerial Meeting

The following is the joint readout released by the Secretary of State of the United States and the Foreign Ministers of the Governments of Australia, India, and Japan.

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We, the Secretary of State of the United States and the Foreign Ministers of Australia, India, and Japan, met in New York City on the sidelines of the 77th United Nations General Assembly to deepen Quad multilateral cooperation in support of advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific, which is inclusive and resilient. The Quad’s vision is for a region where the rules-based international order is upheld, and where the principles of freedom, rule of law, democratic values, peaceful settlement of disputes, sovereignty, and territorial integrity are respected.

We reaffirmed our conviction that international law, peace, and security in the maritime domain underpins 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 ASEAN unity and centrality, ASEAN-led regional architecture, and practical implementation of ASEAN’s Outlook on the Indo-Pacific.

In meeting here, among the nations of the world, we underscored the Quad’s unwavering support for the UN Charter, including its three pillars, and our steadfast commitment to strengthening and reforming the UN and international system. The Quad affirmed its support for a UN that solves 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 achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. We are committed to advancing a comprehensive UN reform agenda, including through expansion in permanent and non-permanent seats of the UN Security Council, so that the Council reflects the current global realities and incorporates more geographically diverse perspectives. We underscored the need to address attempts to unilaterally subvert the international and multilateral system, including in the UN.

We welcomed progress in delivering on Quad commitments. In particular, we were pleased to sign guidelines to operationalize the Quad Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Partnership for the Indo-Pacific announced by Quad leaders in May 2022. We look forward to the counter-terrorism tabletop exercise being hosted by Australia later in 2022, and we announced a statement on ransomware, calling on states to take reasonable steps to address ransomware operations emanating from their territory. We reiterated the Quad’s commitment to supporting regional partners’ efforts to improve their maritime security and domain awareness. We support the ongoing efforts, in close consultation with regional partners, to take forward the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness. We will continue to leverage our collective expertise to support the region to respond to other challenges, such as education and disinformation, as well as advance the initiatives set forth by Quad leaders on health security, climate change, infrastructure, peaceful use of outer space, critical and emerging technologies, and cybersecurity.

We, the Quad Foreign Ministers, resolved that our vision for the Quad’s multilateral cooperation will be predicated on action-oriented engagement for the benefit of people throughout the Indo-Pacific. We intend to meet in person for the next Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in New Delhi in early 2023.