POLICY & DIPLOMACYBACKGROUND OF JAPANAUSTRALIA-INDIA-U.S. (QUAD)
December 2004

ADVANCING THE COMMON VISION OF

In the aftermath of the earthquake off the coast ofSumatra and tsunami disaster in the Indian Ocean,Japan, Australia, India and the U.S. formed a coregroup to lead the international community’s support.

A FREE AND OPEN
INDO-PACIFICA STATEMENT BY PM KISHIDA FOLLOWINGTHE QUAD LEADERS’ MEETING
MAY 24, 2022

May 2007
Quad officials held a meeting for the first time.
Senior officials meetings have been held on a regularbasis since November 2017.
September 2019
The first Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in New YorkThe Quad is playing an important role in promoting a Free and Open IndoPacific. At the Leaders’ Meeting, the Quad confirmed that they will seek tosupply the region with more than 50 billion dollars of further infrastructureassistance and investment over the next five years. AP/AFLO

Full Text: https://japan.kantei.go.jp/101_kishida/statement/202205/_00013.html

On May 24, 2022, the Japan-Australia-India-U.S. (Quad) Leaders’ Meeting was held in Tokyo. Amid the situation of Russia’saggression against Ukraine, which has shaken the very foundations of the international order, the four countries reconfirmedthat no unilateral change of the status quo by force is tolerated in any region, especially in the Indo-Pacific, and they remainstrongly committed to the realization of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific. The four leaders shared the view that the Quad is a force
for good, committed to bringing tangible benefits to the region. They confirmed that they would continue to work in close
cooperation and released the QUAD Joint Leaders’ statement.
Prime Minister Kishida, in his opening remarks at the press conference following the Quad meeting, mentioned that thefour leaders had concurred in the decision to hold the next Leaders’ Meeting in Australia in 2023, and expressed the hope thatthey would further strengthen the Quad’s cooperation.
The following is the full text of the statement.

I invited President Biden of the United States,
Prime Minister Modi of India, and Prime Minister
Albanese of Australia to Tokyo, where today I, as
the meeting Chair, convened the second in-person
meeting of the Japan-Australia-India-U.S. (Quad)
Leaders’ Meeting, following one last September.
The four Quad leaders held candid discussions on

the impact the situation in Ukraine has on the IndoPacific region and expressed our concern regarding
the tragic conflict in Ukraine in a way that India alsojoined. We confirmed that the various principles of
the rule of law, sovereignty, and territorial integrity
must be upheld in every region of the world.
We also discussed North Korea, which eventhis month launched ballistic missiles in quick
succession and is intensifying its nuclear and missile
activities, and we agreed to act in cooperation
towards the complete denuclearization of NorthKorea. With regard to the increasingly serious stateof COVID-19 infections in North Korea, we also
discussed preventing a geographical blank fromforming. All four Quad countries also saw eye to eyeon the necessity of an immediate resolution to theabductions issue.
In addition to these issues, we engaged in
substantial discussions on the situation in the IndoThe four countries have been promoting practical cooperation invarious fields to realize a Free and Open Indo-Pacific and concurredon the importance of making positive contributions to the region.

Pacific region, including our grave concerns regarding
attempts to unilaterally change the status quo in the
East China Sea and South China Sea, responses tothe situation in Myanmar, and other matters.
The Q uad summit is also a venue for advancing
practical cooperation across a wide range of fields inorder to realize a Free and Open Indo-Pacific.
In vaccine-related cooperation undertaken
thus far, our cooperation is advancing, including
progress towards supplying vaccines under theQuad Vaccine Partnership and the signing of a loanagreement between the Japan Bank for International
Cooperation (JBIC) and the Export-Import Bankof India (EXIM Bank) that will facilitate a total of
US$100 million in assistance for the healthcare sector.
In the area of infrastructure, we announced we will
aim to provide more than US$50 billion in further
assistance and investment in the Indo-Pacific region
over the next five years. We also agreed to undertake
capacity building support in countries facing debt
problems.
The Indo-Pacific region is a region with frequent
natural disasters and a large number of countries
vulnerable to climate change and other threats. In
the area of space, through this meeting we establisheda system for providing to countries in the region
satellite information owned by the Quad countries.
This information can be used for various objectives,
including disaster prevention, climate change
countermeasures, and the sustainable use of marine
resources. In order to respond more effectively tonatural disasters in the region, we also agreed on apartnership that strengthens the collaboration among

March 2021
The first Leaders’ Video Conference
September 2021
The first in-person Leaders’ Meeting
May 2022
The second in-person Leaders’ Meetingthe four Quad countries in the areas of humanitarianassistance and disaster relief. Furthermore, in the areaof maritime security, the Quad leaders welcomed thenew initiative for maritime domain awareness, which
will promote information sharing among countries in
the region.
Against the backdrop of Russia’s aggression
towards Ukraine, a situation that undermines thevery foundation of the international order, and inlight of the participation in this summit meeting ofPresident Biden and Prime Minister Modi and also
Prime Minister Albanese, who joined us despite
having just assumed office, I consider it to be ofparamount importance that from Tokyo we sentout a powerful message to the world that unilateralchanges to the status quo by force cannot be tolerated
in any region of the world, and especially not in the
Indo-Pacific region, and that a Free and Open IndoPacific is absolutely imperative now more than ever,and that the four Q uad leaders are committed todoing their very utmost to bring it about.
This kind of cooperation by the Quad countries has
spread across a wide range of fields and collaborationat various levels is getting deeper day by day. During
our meeting, Prime Minister Albanese proposed
holding next year’s Q uad summit in Australia. Ivery much look forward to further intensifying thecooperation among our four countries towards therealization of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific.