Tokyo: The four-nation grouping Quad on Monday called for concerted action against all UN-listed terrorist groups, including LeT, JeM and their proxy outfits as it urged all countries to take immediate, sustained and irreversible action to prevent their territory from being used for terrorist purposes, in a veiled reference to Pakistan.
In a joint statement issued after the Quad foreign ministers’ meeting here, the Quad ministers “unequivocally” condemned terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms including cross-border terrorism.
“We strongly reiterate our condemnation of terrorist attacks, including the 26/11 Mumbai and Pathankot attacks and call for bringing the perpetrators of these attacks to justice without delay,” said the statement from the grouping comprising India, the US, Japan and Australia.
The ministers deplored the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), drones, tunnels and information and communication technologies by terrorists and terrorist entities.
The Quad urged all countries to take immediate, sustained and irreversible action to prevent territory under their control from being used for terrorist purposes.
“We reiterate the call for concerted action against all UN-listed terrorist groups including Al-Qa’ida, ISIS/Daesh, Lashkar e-Tayyiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), and their proxy groups,” it said, without naming any country.
Pakistan has been repeatedly accused by its neighbours of “providing safe havens to terrorist groups including al-Qaida, JeM, LeT and their proxy groups”.
The Quad member states said they were committed to working together to promote accountability for the perpetrators of terrorist attacks and support implementation including through domestic designations of UN Security Council resolutions as they pertain to sanctions.
“We are committed to international cooperation and working together with our international and regional partners in a comprehensive and sustained manner to strengthen their capacity to prevent, detect and respond to threats posed by terrorism and violent extremism including threats posed by the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes,” the joint statement said.
The Quad foreign ministers welcomed the fruitful discussions held at the first Quad Working Group on Counter-Terrorism meeting and the fourth tabletop exercise in Honolulu in December 2023 and looked forward to Japan hosting the next meeting and tabletop exercise in November 2024.
