QUAD

Posted 17 Oct 2024

Updated 22 Oct 2024

7 min read

Why in the news?

The Prime Minister of India attended the Quad Leaders’ Summit in Wilmington (US).

Over the past four years, Quad Leaders have met six times, including twice virtually.
The year 2024 marks 20 years since the formation of the grouping.
The Quad Leaders’ Summit adopted the Wilmington Declaration.
India will host the 2025 Quad Leaders Summit.

Health Security: ‘Quad Cancer Moonshot’, a partnership to save lives in the Indo-Pacific region by combating cervical cancer.
Quality Infrastructure: ‘Quad Ports of the Future Partnership’ which will harness the Quad’s collective expertise to support sustainable port infrastructure development.
Critical and Emerging Technologies: A ‘Semiconductor Supply Chains Contingency Network Memorandum of Cooperation’ to enhance the resilience of Quad’s semiconductor supply chains.
Quad Investors Network (QUIN): Mobilizing several investments to promote supply chain resilience, advance joint research
Climate and Clean Energy: Collective Quad effort to boost energy efficiency, including deployment and manufacturing of high-efficiency affordable cooling systems in the region.
Space: India’s establishment of a space-based web portal for Mauritius, to support the concept of open science for space-based monitoring of extreme weather events and climate impact.
Maritime Security:

‘Maritime Initiative for Training in the Indo-Pacific (MAITRI)’ to maximize tools provided through Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (announced in 2022) and other Quad initiatives.
‘Quad-at-Sea Ship Observer Mission’ in 2025 to improve interoperability and advance maritime safety.

Quad is a Plurilateral framework of maritime democracies and a Global Force for Good that delivers real, positive, and enduring impact for the Indo-Pacific.
Members: The Quad is a diplomatic partnership (neither a military alliance nor a mutual defence agreement) between Australia, India, Japan, and the US.
Purpose: It is committed to supporting an open, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific that is inclusive and resilient.
Key Summit: Quad Leaders' Summits and Foreign Ministers' Meetings are held on an annual basis.
The mandate of the Quad has gradually expanded with six working groups covering health, climate, critical and emerging technology, space, infrastructure and cyber.

Strategic Balance: QUAD serves as a counterbalance to China's growing influence, particularly in the Indo-Pacific.
Maritime Security: It helps ensure a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific region, upholding international laws like the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Economic Collaboration: in areas such as infrastructure investment, cooperation on standards, and supply chains, etc.
Health and Humanitarian Efforts: QUAD played a pivotal role during the COVID-19 pandemic, committing to deliver up to a billion vaccine doses globally.

Additionally, the group is active in disaster response, helping countries in the region during natural calamities.

Strategic balance against China: QUAD offers India a platform to align with like-minded countries, thereby enhancing its security posture and reducing the threat of Chinese encirclement.
Strengthening Act East Policy: QUAD contributes to India's strategic objectives of strengthening ties with countries in East Asia and Southeast Asia
Boost to India’s military capability: Bilateral defence and security partnerships supplement India’s defense capabilities especially in maritime domain. For instance, Malabar exercise 2024 enhance the ability to train and operate jointly.
Technological and Economic Cooperation: India benefits from QUAD initiatives aimed at building secure supply chains in critical areas like semiconductors. India, Japan and Australia formally launched the Supply Chain Resilience initiative

This reduces India's dependency on China for key imports and aligns with India’s broader Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative.

Less institutionalisation: In its current form, Quad remains relatively institutionalized. The forum is maintained by meetings, semi-regular summits, information exchanges.
Perceived as a Cold War mentality: China has criticized the Quad diplomacy as reflective of a "Cold War mentality" and an attempt to establish an "Asian NATO”.
Divergent National Interests: For instance, India focuses mainly on regional security, especially regarding China, while the U.S. has broader global strategic interests.
- Australia's economic reliance on China and Japan’s security dependence on the U.S. further complicates alignment.
Maintain its unique character: Defining the Quad’s purpose as distinct from other regional groupings like ASEAN, Pacific Islands Forum, and IORA has proven to be difficult.
US is distracted from Indo-Pacific: In international policy, wars in Europe and the Middle East mean that US attention to Asia will be more limited.

Reluctance towards Military Alliance: India is cautious about the Quad becoming a formal military alliance.
- It values the grouping for non-traditional security cooperation but is resistant to a collective military role, which would compromise its strategic autonomy.
Possibility of reactivating tensions with China: India is the only country among the Quad members that shares its borders with China. This makes it imperative for India to ensure that Quad is not reduced to an anti-China grouping.
Other group such as SQUAD (comprising Australia, Japan, the Philippines, and US): May take focus away from the QUAD.
India’s flexible approach: India continues to nurture flexible partnerships with countries, including some that are antagonistic toward the Quad, like SCO.
Impact on other partners: India’s involvement in Quad could risk alienating other important Indian partners like Russia and Iran.

Institutionalizing the Quad: Establishing a formal structure or secretariat could enhance its effectiveness, making it a more permanent feature in regional security and diplomatic engagements.
Augment existing organisations in region: Quad, rather than replacing, should seek to augment other multi-laterals or regional organizations and provide an inclusive vision for cooperation.
Engage other players: Quad needs to proactively engage with regional partners in initiatives that resonate with their respective interests and priorities.
Balancing clarity and ambiguity: By not explicitly highlighting traditional security concerns, such as potential Chinese military actions, the Quad can focus on areas of shared interests while minimizing the risk of direct confrontation with China.