New Delhi: The four Quad nations Tuesday issued a strong condemnation of the April 2025 terrorist attack in Pahalgam in Kashmir, placing counterterrorism at the center of their joint agenda in the Indo-Pacific.
In a joint statement released after the Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in New Delhi, India, the United States, Japan and Australia denounced “terrorism in all its forms and manifestations”, specifically referencing the deadly attack in Pahalgam on 22 April 2025, and the attack at Bondi Beach in Australia in December last year.
“We unequivocally condemn terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including cross-border terrorism and the horrific terrorist attacks perpetrated at Pahalgam in India on 22 April 2025,” the statement said.
The explicit mention of the Pahalgam attack marked one of the strongest collective formulations by the Quad on terrorism affecting India, reflecting New Delhi’s growing effort to place cross-border militancy higher on the agenda of major international forums.
The ministers also called for “decisive and sustained international efforts to combat terrorism in accordance with international law,” including action against “globally proscribed terrorists and terror entities and their proxies, affiliates, sponsors and financiers”.
While the statement did not identify any country by name, the language echoed India’s longstanding concerns about cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan.
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‘Zero tolerance for terrorism’
At a joint press briefing earlier in the day at the Hyderabad House, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar stressed that the four countries had devoted significant attention to the issue during their discussions.
“As democratic nations, we also devoted attention to countering the common threat of terrorism,” Jaishankar said. “There must be zero tolerance for terrorism, and nations subject to terrorist attacks have the right to defend themselves.”
The remarks pointed to India’s attempt to link counterterrorism more directly with the broader strategic and security agenda in the Indo-Pacific, where the Quad has increasingly expanded cooperation on maritime security, critical technologies and supply chains.
The joint statement also highlighted concerns over the use of emerging technologies by extremist groups, warning of threats posed by “violent extremists who engage in violent, criminal, or terrorist acts and by the use of emerging technologies for terrorist purposes”.
“We call for decisive and sustained international efforts to combat terrorism in accordance with international law, including action against globally proscribed terrorists and terror entities and their proxies, affiliates, sponsors and financiers, the statement read.
“We are committed to working together with our international and regional partners in a comprehensive manner to strengthen their capacity to prevent, detect and respond to threats posed by terrorism, violent extremists who engage in violent, criminal, or terrorist acts and by the use of emerging technologies for terrorist purposes,” it added.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)