Leaders take different stances on Ukraine war

NEW DELHI: What the Quad leaders said, or left unsaid, at their summit in Tokyo on Tuesday about the Ukraine crisis reflected the persisting differences within the four-nation grouping on the Russian aggression that has impacted Europe’s security architecture.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese made no mention of the conflict in Ukriane in their televised opening remarks at the second in-person summit of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or Quad, as they focused on the Covid-19 response, economic cooperation and climate action.

In marked contrast, US President Joe Biden and Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida highlighted Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its impact on the rules-based international order and the resultant food crisis. They also spoke about ensuring that such aggression isn’t repeated in the Indo-pacific and the importance of defending principles such as territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra told a media briefing after the summit that the situation in Ukraine had figured in the discussions on regional and global issues at the closed session of the meeting. “All the countries present in the room discussed their perspectives of the situation in Ukraine and there was a general and good appreciation of the position that India has taken with regard to Ukraine – which has been [a call for the] immediate cessation of hostilities...,” Kwatra said.

Modi emphasised it is “important to look at the situation in Ukraine, but it is also equally important to look at the problems of food security, energy security [and] humanitarian issues” emerging because of the crisis, he added.

Kishida described the Russian invasion as a “grave incident which has fundamentally shaken the rule of law-based international order”. Biden described the Ukraine crisis as “a dark hour in our shared history”.