India joins Quad to slam Russia on nuclear-threat in Ukraine

They also opposed any unilateral actions to increase tensions in the South China Sea, and expressed concerns about the 'militarisation' of disputed territories

India on Friday joined its partners in the Quad – Australia, Japan and the United States – to denounce Russia’s threat of using nuclear weapons against Ukraine.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar hosted the Japanese and Australian Foreign Ministers, Yoshimasa Hayashi and Penny Wong, as well as the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, in New Delhi early on Friday. They discussed the responses of the four nations to the Russia's "special military operations" in Ukraine and the "immense human suffering" caused by it.

The Quad Foreign Ministers met just a day after a war of words between the western nations and Russia over the conflict in Ukraine marred a G20 conclave in New Delhi itself.

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Jaishankar joined his counterparts from Canberra, Tokyo and Washington DC to tacitly condemn Russia's threat of using nuclear weapons in Ukraine even when the Foreign Minister of the former Soviet Union nation, Sergey Lavrov, was also in New Delhi.

Lavrov accused the US of trying to militarise the Quad and using it to escalate tension between India and China.

The ministers of the four nations concurred that the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons was inadmissible. "We underscored the need for a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine in accordance with international law, including the UN Charter. We emphasised that the rules-based international order must respect sovereignty, territorial integrity, transparency and peaceful resolution of disputes," according to a joint statement issued after the meeting.

Dmitry Medvedev, the Deputy Head of Russia’s Security Council, had on January 19 said that the former Soviet Union nation could start a nuclear war if it lost its conventional war in Ukraine. "The loss by a nuclear power in a conventional war can provoke the outbreak of a nuclear war," Medvedev, a close aide of Russian President Vladimir Putin, had posted on Telegram.

The Quad joint statement, however, did not specifically refer to Russia, as India resisted pressure from Japan, Australia and the US and insisted on avoiding calling out the former Soviet Union nation directly.

India, Australia, Japan and the US launched the Quad primarily to counter China's hegemonic aspirations in the Indo-Pacific region. It was elevated to the level of the leaders with a virtual summit on March 12, 2021.

Moscow has been opposed to India's cooperation with the US and its other partners in the Quad in the Indo-Pacific.

Lavrov, himself, had earlier called the Quad a 'divisive' and 'exclusivist' tool, which was being used by the US Government to implement its devious policy" of engaging New Delhi in games against China as well as to undermine Russia's close partnership with India.

India, Australia, Japan and the US elevated the Quad to the level of the leaders with a virtual summit of the leaders on March 12. Modi joined President Joe Biden of the US as well as the leaders of Japan and Australia in the White House on September 24 for the first in-person summit of the Quad.