India, the US, Australia, and Japan pledged to strengthen their cooperation on the defining challenges of our time

Vowing to respond to the economic and health impacts of Covid-19, Quad leaders on Friday decided to collaborate to strengthen equitable vaccine access for the Indo-Pacific in close coordination with multilateral organizations including the World Health Organization and COVAX.

“Building on the progress the four countries have achieved on health security, Quad members will join forces to expand safe, affordable, and effective vaccine production and equitable access, to speed economic recovery and benefit global health,” the Quad Leaders’ Joint Statement: ‘The Spirit of the Quad’ said.

With steadfast commitment to the health and safety of our own people, we also recognize that none of us can be safe as long as the pandemic continues to spread, the Quad Leader’s Joint Statement reckoned, while announcing their decision to collaborate to strengthen equitable vaccine access for the Indo-Pacific.

During the first-ever leader-level summit of the Quad, India, the US, Australia, and Japan pledged to strengthen their cooperation on the defining challenges of our time.

As per the statement, they also resolved to respond to the economic and health impacts of COVID-19, combat climate change, and address shared challenges, including in cyber space, critical technologies, counterterrorism, quality infrastructure investment, and humanitarian-assistance and disaster-relief as well as maritime domains.

Committed to combine their nations’ medical, scientific, financing, manufacturing and delivery, and development capabilities and establish a vaccine expert working group to implement our path-breaking commitment to safe and effective vaccine distribution, the statement noted.

It further informed, Quad leaders also decided to form a critical- and emerging-technology working group to facilitate cooperation on international standards and innovative technologies of the future and a climate working group to strengthen climate actions globally on mitigation, adaptation, resilience, technology, capacity-building, and climate finance.

United in recognizing that climate change is a global priority, Quad leaders decided to strengthen the climate actions of all nations, including to keep a Paris-aligned temperature limit within reach, the statement mentioned.

Earlier, the leaders reaffirmed their commitment to quadrilateral cooperation between Australia, India, Japan, and the United States, bringing diverse perspectives and are united in a shared vision for the free and open Indo-Pacific, it said.

The leaders of the four countries, reiterated their resolve to strive for a region that is free, open, inclusive, healthy, anchored by democratic values, and unconstrained by coercion, it added.

Quad leaders also reaffirmed their commitment to the complete denuclearization of North Korea in accordance with United Nations Security Council resolutions, and also confirm the necessity of immediate resolution of the issue of Japanese abductees.

As long-standing supporters of Myanmar and its people, we emphasize the urgent need to restore democracy and the priority of strengthening democratic resilience, the statement said.