Quad Must Remain Focused On Promoting Peace, Stability In Indo-Pacific Region: PM Modi

Quad Meeting: The meeting was attended by US President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his Japan counterpart Fumio Kishida.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga (extreme left) at Quad Leaders' Summit (Twitter)

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday underlined that the Quad bloc must remain focused on core objective of promoting peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.

In a statement, the PMO said Quad leaders discussed developments in ASEAN, Indian Ocean region and Pacific Islands.

The meeting was attended by US President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his Japan counterpart Fumio Kishida under the shadow of Russia's military offensive in Ukraine. The leaders last met in September 2021 at Washington DC. 

"PM underlined that Quad must remain focused on its objective of promoting peace and prosperity in Indo-Pacific region. He called for concrete forms of cooperation within Quad, in areas like humanitarian and disaster relief, debt sustainability, supply chains and capacity-building," the PMO said in a statement.

The PMO said developments in Ukraine were also discussed in the Quad meeting, including its humanitarian implications.

At the virtual meet, PM Modi reiterated importance of adhering to UN Charter, international law, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity.

"PM emphasised need to return to a path of dialogue and diplomacy. Leaders also discussed other issues, including developments in ASEAN, Indian Ocean region and Pacific Islands. PM reiterated importance of adhering to the UN Charter, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity," the statement said.

PM Modi also called for concrete and practical forms of cooperation within Quad in areas like supply chains, clean energy and connectivity.

"The Quad leaders agreed on accelerating cooperation with an objective to achieve concrete outcomes by summit in Japan later this year," the PMO statement said.