The Quad, comprising India, the US, Japan and Australia, issued a joint statement at the end of their summit saying, “Together, we commit to promoting a free, open rules-based order, rooted in international law to advance security and prosperity and counter threats to both in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.”

The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) nations supported India’s stand that their joint statement should include “rules-based order rooted in international law” for the Indo-Pacific region, ET has learnt.

The Quad, comprising India, the US, Japan and Australia, issued a joint statement at the end of their summit saying, “Together, we commit to promoting a free, open rules-based order, rooted in international law to advance security and prosperity and counter threats to both in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.”

The Quad forum holds meetings and exchanges information among member nations on a range of issues--from disaster management to maritime security to counter-terrorism.

“We support the rule of law, freedom of navigation and over flight, peaceful resolution of disputes, democratic values, and territorial integrity. We commit to work together and with a range of partners. We reaffirm our strong support for ASEAN’s unity and centrality as well as the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific…,” the statement said.

Some of India's key and emerging partners in the Indo-Pacific region have been keen to promote “rules-based order rooted in international law” as part of efforts to create inclusive Indo-Pacific construct. India backed this idea and made efforts to include it in the joint statement, ET has learnt.

Separately, in a jointly-authored opinion article for The Washington Post, US President Joe Biden, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga reiterated the Quad’s commitment to a free and secure Indo-Pacific region, and pledged to work with countries that share the same goals.

“Our cooperation, known as ‘the Quad’, was born in crisis. It became a diplomatic dialogue in 2007 and was reborn in 2017. Now, in this new age of interconnection and opportunity throughout the Indo-Pacific, we are again summoned to act together in support of a region in need," the four leaders of Quad wrote for The Washington Post.

"Against this backdrop, we are recommitting to a shared vision for an Indo-Pacific region that is free, open, resilient and inclusive. We are striving to ensure that the Indo-Pacific is accessible and dynamic, governed by international law and bedrock principles such as freedom of navigation and peaceful resolution of disputes and that all countries are able to make their own political choices, free from coercion. In recent years, that vision has increasingly been tested. Those trials have only strengthened our resolve to reckon with the most urgent of global challenges together...

"To strengthen our quest for a region that is open and free, we have agreed to partner to address the challenges presented by new technologies and collaborate to set the norms and standards that govern the innovations of the future. It is clear that climate change is both a strategic priority and an urgent global challenge, including for the Indo-Pacific region… Ending and recovering from the pandemic, standing up to climate change, and advancing our shared regional vision will not be easy. We know we cannot and will not succeed without coordination and cooperation," the leaders wrote.