Pahalgam: Quad avoids blaming Pakistan

WASHINGTON:

The Quad grouping of the United States, India, Japan and Australia called on Tuesday for the perpetrators of the Pahalgam attack that killed 26 in IIOJK to be brought to justice without delay.

The April 22 attack sparked heavy fighting between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan in the latest escalation of a decades-old rivalry as India blamed it on Pakistan, which denied responsibility while calling for a neutral investigation.

The US State Department issued a joint statement by the foreign ministers of the grouping, who met in Washington, but stopped short of naming Pakistan or blaming Islamabad.

"The Quad unequivocally condemns all acts of terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms and manifestations, including cross-border terrorism," the ministers said in the statement.

They called on all members of the United Nations to cooperate actively with "all relevant authorities" in delivering justice to the "perpetrators, organizers, and financiers of this reprehensible act", without any delay.

India is an increasingly important U.S. partner in Washington's effort to counter China's rising influence in Asia while Pakistan is a US ally. On May 7, Indian jets bombed sites across the border that New Delhi described as "terrorist infrastructure", setting off an exchange of attacks between the two countries by fighter jets, missiles, drones and artillery that killed dozens until a ceasefire on May 10.

The ceasefire was first announced by US President Donald Trump on social media after Washington held talks with both sides, but India has differed with Trump's claims that it resulted from his intervention and threats to sever trade talks.

India's position has been that New Delhi and Islamabad must resolve their problems directly and with no outside involvement.

On Monday, India's foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, restated its position that trade was not a factor in the ceasefire. "Relationships will never be free of issues," he said, referring to the United States, adding, "What matters is the ability to deal with it and to keep that trend going in the positive direction."

The grouping also pledged to work together to ensure a stable supply of critical minerals, as worries grow over China's dominance in resources vital to new technologies.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed his counterparts from the so-called "Quad" to Washington in a shift of focus to Asia, after spending much of his first six months on the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and on President Donald Trump's domestic priorities such as migration.

The four countries said in a joint statement that they were establishing the Quad Critical Minerals Initiative, aimed at "collaborating on securing and diversifying" supply chains.

They offered little detail but made clear the goal was to reduce reliance on China, which has used restrictions as leverage as the United States in turn curbs its access to semiconductors and as Trump threatens steep tariffs—including on Quad countries.

"Reliance on any one country for processing and refining critical minerals and derivative goods production exposes our industries to economic coercion, price manipulation and supply chain disruptions," the statement said.

The ministers were careful not to mention China by name but voiced "serious concerns regarding dangerous and provocative actions" in the South China Sea and East China Sea that "threaten peace and stability in the region."

China holds major reserves of several key minerals including the vast majority of the world's graphite, which is crucial for electric vehicles.

In brief remarks alongside the other ministers, Rubio said he has "personally been very focused" on diversifying supply chains and wanted "real progress."

The four-way partnership was first conceived by late Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, who saw an alliance of democracies surrounding China — which has repeatedly alleged that the Quad is a way to contain it.

Rubio had welcomed the Quad foreign ministers on January 21 in his first meeting after Trump's inauguration, seen as a sign the new administration would prioritize engagement with like-minded countries to counter China.

But to the surprise of many, China has not topped the early agenda of Trump, who has spoken respectfully about his counterpart Xi Jinping and reached a truce with Beijing to avoid a wider trade war between the world's two largest economies.

Trump is expected to travel to India later this year for a Quad summit.

Both the Indian and Japanese foreign ministers said that they wanted the Quad to focus on a "free and open Indo-Pacific"—a phrasing that is a veiled allusion to opposing Chinese dominance in Asia.

"It is essential that nations of the Indo-Pacific have the freedom of choice, so essential to make right decisions on development and security," Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said.