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Context: The first-ever in-person Leaders’ Summit of the Quad happened at White House.

 

Key outcomes of summit:

• The leaders have put forth ambitious initiatives that deepen our ties and advance practical cooperation on 21st-century challenges:
  • Ending the COVID-19 pandemic, including by increasing production and access to safe and effective vaccines;
  • Promoting high-standards infrastructure;
  • Combating the climate crisis; partnering on emerging technologies, space, and cyber-security; and
  • Cultivating next-generation talent in all of our countries.

 

COVID and Global Health

• Quad leaders recognize that the most immediate threat to lives and livelihoods in our four countries and the world is the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Quad leaders launched the Quad Vaccine Partnership, to help enhance equitable access to safe and effective vaccines in the Indo-Pacific and the world.
• Through $3.3 billion in the COVID-19 Crisis Response Emergency Support Loan program, Japan will continue to help regional countries to procure safe, effective, and quality-assured vaccines. Australia will deliver $212 million in grant aid to purchase vaccines for Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
• Will continue to strengthen and support the life-saving work of international organizations and partnerships, including the WHO, COVAX, Gavi, CEPI, and UNICEF; and national governments. At the same time, the leaders are fully committed to strengthening vaccine confidence and trust. To that end, Quad countries will host an event at the 75th World Health Assembly (WHA) dedicated to combatting hesitancy.
• Will support the call for a "global pandemic radar” and will improve our viral genomic surveillance, including by working together to strengthen and expand the WHO Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS).

 

Infrastructure

 

• Building on the G7’s announcement of Build Back Better World (B3W)—an infrastructure partnership focused on digital connectivity, climate, health and health security, and gender equality infrastructure—the Quad will rally expertise, capacity, and influence to strengthen ongoing infrastructure initiatives in the region and identify new opportunities to meet the needs there.
• Launch the Quad Infrastructure Coordination Group to coordinate technical assistance and capacity-building efforts.
• Lead on High-Standards Infrastructure this represents thousands of projects, including capacity-building, across more than 30 countries in support of rural development, health infrastructure, water supply and sanitation.

 

Climate

 

• Quad countries share serious concern with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s report findings on the latest climate science, which has significant implications for climate action.
• To address the climate crisis with the urgency it demands, Quad countries will focus their efforts on the themes of climate ambition, including working on 2030 targets for national emissions and renewable energy, clean-energy innovation and deployment, as well as adaptation, resilience, and preparedness.
• Form a Green-Shipping Network to deploy green-port infrastructure and clean-bunkering fuels at scale.
• Establish a Clean-Hydrogen Partnership to strengthen and reduce costs across all elements of the clean-hydrogen value chain, leveraging existing bilateral and multilateral hydrogen initiatives in other fora.
• Enhance Climate Adaptation, Resilience, and Preparedness to increasing the Indo-Pacific region’s resilience to climate change by improving critical climate information-sharing and disaster-resilient infrastructure.

 

People-to-People Exchange and Education

• To build ties among the next generation of scientists and technologists, Quad partners announced the Quad Fellowship: a first-of-its-kind scholarship program, operated and administered by a philanthropic initiative and in consultation with a non-governmental task force comprised of leaders from each Quad country.
• The Fellowship will sponsor 100 students per year—25 from each Quad country—to pursue masters and doctoral degrees at leading STEM graduate universities in the United States.

 

Critical and Emerging Technologies

• Quad leaders are committed to working together to foster an open, accessible, and secure technology ecosystem.
• It will work around four sectors: technical standards, 5G diversification and deployment, horizon-scanning, and technology supply chains.
• Establish Technical Standards Contact Groups to focus on standards-development activities as well as foundational pre-standardization research.
• Launch a Semiconductor Supply Chain Initiative to map capacity, identify vulnerabilities, and bolster supply-chain security for semiconductors and their vital components.
• Support 5G Deployment and Diversification for fostering and promoting a diverse, resilient, and secure telecommunications ecosystem.
• Monitor Biotechnology Scanning trends in critical and emerging technologies, starting with advanced biotechnologies, including synthetic biology, genome sequencing, and bio-manufacturing. In the process, we will identify related opportunities for cooperation.

 

Cybersecurity

• Launch a Quad Senior Cyber Group to advance work between government and industry on driving continuous improvements in areas including adoption and implementation of shared cyber standards; development of secure software; building workforce and talent; and promoting the scalability and cyber security of secure and trustworthy digital infrastructure.

 

Space

• Share Satellite Data to Protect the Earth and its Waters to exchange Earth observation satellite data and analysis on climate-change risks and the sustainable use of oceans and marine resources.
• Capacity-Building for Sustainable Development: The Quad countries will work together to support, strengthen, and enhance space applications and technologies of mutual interest.

About QUAD:

 

Background

• In the aftermath of Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, Australia, Japan, India, and America formed a Regional Core Group in 2004.
• Then Japanese PM Shinzo Abe proposed an “Arc of Freedom and Prosperity” in 2006.
• The first meeting of the initial Quad was held in May 2007 as officials gathered for the ASEAN Regional Forum meeting.
• Japanes PM Shinzo Abe after returning to office called for a “democratic security diamond,” a Quad 2.0.

 

The QUAD 2.0:

• The move to set up the quadrilateral also comes in the backdrop of growing Chinese assertiveness in the South China Sea and China’s aggressive posturing.
• Since its revival in late 2017, the Quad met twice a year in 2018 and 2019.
• In New York in September 2019, the four countries held the first ministerial-level meeting of the Quad “to discuss collective efforts in shared commitments and close cooperation on counter terrorism, mentoring, assistance in disaster relief, airtime security, cooperation, development, finance and cyber-security efforts.”

 

Significance of quad- grouping:

• All four nations share a deep interest in maintaining a stable balance of power in the Indo-Pacific and preventing a regional state from becoming dominant.
• All four states share an interest in deterring the use of forceful or coercive practices to resolve political and territorial disputes in the region.
• All four states are committed to the current rules-based economic order in the Indo-Pacific. This is based on free trade, open investment environments, open competitive tendering, the rule of law, and standards of good governance from which all continue to benefit.
• All four nations support to strengthen liberal democratic governance within the Indo-Pacific. The region has not been immune to the global decline in observance of political rights and civil liberties.

 

How is china responding to quad?

• China’s endeavour is to conflate the Quad with the Indo-Pacific vision, and link both to the so-called China Containment Theory.
• In 2016, China itself established a Quadrilateral Cooperation and Coordination Mechanism with Afghanistan, Pakistan and Tajikistan.
• More recently, China has established Quadrilateral Cooperation with Pakistan, Afghanistan and
• The strategic community in China, nevertheless, had branded it an emerging “Asian NATO”.

 

Quad Nations and China

• USA had followed a policy to contain China’s increasing influence in East Asia. Therefore, USA sees the coalition as an opportunity to regain its influence in the Indo-Pacific region.
• Australia is concerned about China's growing interest in its land, infrastructure and politics, and influence on its universities.
• Japan has expressed concerns related to China’s territorial transgression in the region.
• China’s violation of international norms, particularly its construction of military facilities on reclaimed islands in the South China Sea, and its growing military and economic power, pose a strategic challenge to India.

 

QUAD Significance for India:

• Act East Policy: It gives a powerful platform to advance its interests in East Asia, coordinate strategies with powerful friends and add more strength to its Act East initiative.
• It will deepen India’s ties with US, Australia and Japan and will provide New Delhi significant leverage in shaping US policies in Afghanistan-Pakistan to the benefit of India.
• Through QUAD India seeks to reassert rule based world order to counter China’s growing power and assertion.
• Defence-related spending reduced in this time of COVID pandemic and associated with lockdowns, Quad will provide heavyweight to India’s interests.
• Sustainable Development in the Indian Ocean Region: India holds the responsibility to act as the net security provider in the Indian Ocean region.
• Issue-based alliance or minilateralism: India has moved beyond non-alignment towards an issue-based alliance with no formal agreements. Therefore, joining Quad will be in line with the present foreign policies of the government.

 

Challenges:

• Translating intent into action will require a strengthening of ties in existing fields, as well as non-traditional areas such as cyber/information security, energy and climate change, disaster management, etc.
• Poor Indian and Japanese financial and logistical bandwidth to competitively invest in the IPR compounds the Quad's shortcomings.
• Complex economic relationships between the Core Quad and China – for all Quad members, China is either the first or the second largest trading partner, or a key import/export partner.
• If the Quad begins a Quad-plus initiative, it will not only be confronting these challenges, but will also have to contend with other issues such as disputes even amongst members, and differing dispositions towards China.

 

Challenges for India:

• Non-alignment: India is abandoning its “sacred” tradition of non-alignment.
• Trustworthiness of US: US military alliances with Japan and the Philippines has not provided any challenge to Chinese aggression in the region.
• No clarity on objectives: India wants advancing the security and economic interests of all countries having legitimate

and vital interests in the Asia-Pacific region whereas US is pitching for mutating the Indo-Pacific Quad into a more formal security grouping modelled on NATO.

• Individual visions of the Indo-Pacific: It would be difficult to align the combined vision of the grouping with that of their individual visions regarding Indo-Pacific.
• Internal economic changes: If India wants to engage the Quad partners on reforming the China-centred economic globalisation, it also requires to engineer many changes on trade-related aspects, which might prove to be difficult, given India’s drive for self-reliance

 

Recommendations for greater collaboration among quad member governments in the years to come:

• Establish Working Groups On Defense And Infrastructure: Broadening the current Quad format of foreign ministry senior official-level meetings to include representatives from defense ministries would be a necessary first step toward creating a whole-of-Quad “working 2+2.”
• Develop An Indo-Pacific Infrastructure And Development Coordination Working Group: it would ensure that all four Quad nations are committed to creating a roadmap to sustainable, high-quality infrastructure for developing countries.
• It would further permit the streamlining of various inter- Quad infrastructure initiatives, including the Japan-India sponsored Asia-Africa growth corridor.
• Pursue An Annual Meeting Of Joint Operational Commands And Encouragement Of Exchanges:
• Add Crisis Response, Humanitarian Aid, And Disaster Relief to the Quad’s Agenda.
• Appeal To ASEAN: The Quad should seek to harness consensus with ASEAN as a whole, promoting cooperation in the shared interests among the two.
• 2+2 And Malabar: Three of the four Quad countries enjoy ministerial-level “2+2” defense and foreign ministers dialogues with one another. India and Australia should upgrade their “2+2” to the ministerial level to close the loop and complete the square.
• Boost Non-Traditional Security Cooperation: elevating collaboration on mine-sweeping technologies, anti-piracy operations, pollution control, pandemic responses, joint escorts of international shipping, force structuring, coast guard collaboration, counter-proliferation initiatives, and exchange of information on white shipping.
• Expand Cooperation On Space And Maritime Domain Awareness

 

https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1757944