Quad announces formation of Working Group on Counter-Terrorism

• Quad Working Group will explore cooperation amongst the Quad and Indo- Pacific partners, to counter emerging forms of terrorism
• Quad nations said that they look forward to the first meeting in the United States in March 2023
• "We are committed to working together with our regional and international partners for accountability of such terrorist attacks" - The joint statement

The Quad group of nations on Friday announced the creation of a counter-terrorism task force in an effort to focus on the fight against terrorism.

A joint statement by the Quad leaders issued in New Delhi on Friday condemned the use of terrorist intermediaries and pledged to support accountability for terrorist attacks including the 26/11 Mumbai attack "which took the lives of citizens from all the Quad countries", a report mentioned.

"We are announcing the establishment of a Quad Counter-Terrorism Task Force to explore cooperation between the Quad and Indo-Pacific partners to counter new and emerging forms of terrorism, radicalization to violence and violent extremism," the statement said. The group also welcomed focused discussions on these topics at the Quad Counter-Terrorism Policy Meeting and round table exercise hosted by Australia in October 2022. The Quad nations said they look forward to the first meeting in the United States in March 2023 to continue discussions on this global issue.

Earlier, during a panel discussion on 'Quadruple Unit: The Power and Purpose of the Polygon', External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that new things came to light during the meeting of the four-member foreign ministers. “If you ask me what were the new things that came out today, we agreed on a counter-terrorism task force. We have agreed to work more closely with the Indian Ocean Rim Association. We agreed that we had earlier developed the Quad Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) initiative,” Jaishankar said.

"We are pleased to note the progress made in the Humanitarian and Disaster Relief (HADR) Quad Partnership for the Indo-Pacific since our last meeting in September 2022, when we signed the Guidelines for the Partnership," the statement said. Jaishankar also said that one of the outcomes agreed upon by the Quad was that terrorist lists and counter-terrorist lists should not be politicized.

"We unequivocally condemn terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms and manifestations. We condemn the use of terrorist proxies and emphasize the importance of denying any logistical, financial or military support to terrorist organizations that could be used to launch or plan terrorist attacks, including transnational and cross-border attacks,” the joint statement said. "We are committed to working with our regional and international partners to promote accountability for the perpetrators of such terrorist attacks, including through designation by the UN Security Council's 1267 Sanctions Committee," the statement added.

Speaking about reforms at the UN and standard operating procedures for counter-terrorism, Jaishankar said: "So the SOP for what I think the military would obviously see as a prerequisite for their cooperation."