Quad calls for punishing perpetrators of Pahalgam attack

Washington: The Quad grouping has called for bringing the perpetrators, organisers and financiers of the Pahalgam terror attack to justice without any delay and urged UN member nations to extend cooperation for it.

The foreign ministers of the four-nation grouping condemned the April 22 attack in the strongest terms that claimed the lives of 26 civilians and firmly pitched for action against cross-border terrorism.

In a joint statement, the ministers, however, did not mention Pakistan or the four-day military conflict between the Indian and Pakistani militaries in May.

The meeting at the US capital city on Tuesday was attended by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and her Japanese counterpart Takeshi Iwaya.

The Quad foreign ministers condemned "in the strongest terms" the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, that claimed the lives of 25 Indian nationals and one Nepali citizen, while injuring several others.

"We express our deepest condolences to the families of the victims and extend our heartfelt wishes for a swift and full recovery to all those injured," they said.

"We call for the perpetrators, organisers, and financiers of this reprehensible act to be brought to justice without any delay and urge all UN Member States, in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant UN Security Council Resolutions, to cooperate actively with all relevant authorities in this regard," they added.

The Quad meeting also announced the grouping's plan to launch a Quad Ports of the Future partnership in Mumbai this year.

The ministers said they remained seriously concerned about the situation in the East China Sea and the South China Sea.

"We reiterate our strong opposition to any unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion," they said, referring to Chinese military actions.