Quad Meeting

In News 

Recently, Senior officials of Australia, India, Japan, U.S. met at a video conference for the first Quad meeting since March.

Key Points 

• Quad leaders exchanged views” on regional issues such as the East and South China seas, where the Chinese navy has had conflicts over territorial rights with other countries, North Korean actions, and military rule in Myanmar.
• They deliberated on Quadrilateral cooperation in the areas of “quality infrastructure, maritime security, counter-terrorism, cybersecurity, and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief toward the achievement of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific region.
• A special emphasis was made on their support for the “centrality” for the ASEAN grouping of South-East Asian countries in the Indo-Pacific region.
• They discussed plans to cooperate on COVID vaccines, as outlined during the virtual leaders’ summit earlier this year, for one billion Johnson and Johnson vaccines to be produced in India by 2022, funded by the U.S. and distributed by Japan and Australia in South East Asia. 

About QUAD

• It is also known as Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QSD).
• QUAD is an informal group of India, the US, Japan and Australia.
• It is a strategic dialogue with the objective to ensure a free, open, inclusive and prosperous Indo Pacific.

• Shared values between the nations are:
  • Political democracies
  • Market economies
  • Pluralistic societies
• Timeline:
  • 2007: Japanese PM Shinzo Abe mooted the idea of Quadrilateral Security Dialogue
    • Could not materialise due to the reluctance of Australia
  • December 2012: Shinzo Abe again initiated a concept of Asia’s Democratic Security Diamond, involving Australia, India, Japan and the US.
    • The aim was to safeguard the maritime commons from the Indian Ocean to the western Pacific.
  • November 2017: QUAD Coalition was finally given a present-day form with the active participation of India, the US, Australia and Japan.
    • The aim was to keep critical sea routes open and free for navigation in the Indo-Pacific.
  • Foreign ministers of the four countries held their first meeting under the ‘Quad’ framework in New York in September 2019.

Importance of QUAD for India

• Countering Chinese Influence: Recent stand-offs on the Indo-China Border and the reluctance of Russia to step in and build pressure is forcing India to look for alternatives.
• Post-COVID Diplomacy: The disruption across the world and non-transparent systems of China pose an opportunity for India to take lead and become the World’s Manufacturing Hub.
  • India can leverage its expertise in the vaccine and pharma industry to increase its soft power.
  • Further, Japan and the US want to shift their manufacturing companies out of China in order to curb its imperialistic behaviour.
• Net Security Provider in the Indian Ocean: India under the SAGAR initiative wants to become a net security provider in the Indian Ocean.
  • QUAD cooperation may give India access to multiple strategic locations for creating Naval bases.
• Multipolar World: India has supported a rule-based multipolar world and QUAD can help it in achieving its ambition of becoming a regional superpower.

Challenges before QUAD

• Formal opposition by China: China has formally intimated its displeasure over the QUAD meetings.
  • It is being termed as Asian NATO.
• Trade and Supply Chains: As seen recently, China is trying to leverage its position in Trade and Commerce to arm-twist other nations.
  • China threatened to stop the supply of rare earth metals to the Japanese electronic industry.
  • The Corona pandemic disrupted the Global supply chain due to lockdown in China.
• Chinese Closeness to ASEAN: With the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), ASEAN and China have come further close.
• Cheque Book Diplomacy of China: The One Belt One Road Initiative, Maritime Silk Route, Unsustainable Debt and Project Fundings, etc are being deployed by China to attract small nations.
• Different Aspirations of QUAD Nations: QUAD’s coherence may suffer due to 
  • India’s bid to balance QUAD and RIC (Russia, India and China), 
  • The reluctance showed by Australia for QUAD-in past, 
  • Japan and the US are seeking their own economic interests with China.
  • Also, there is a lack of coherence in the definition of Indo-Pacific.

Way Forward

• Strengthening Blue Dot Network: All four countries must pool their resources to check the Economic might of China, rather than just letting it function as a certification agency for infrastructure projects.
• Coherent strategy: All the member countries must develop a unified approach to tackle China rather than act in Individual interests.
• Formalise the talks: The formalisation may help to give QUAD a more structured format.
• QUAD can be an effective tool to counter Chinese adventure and imperialism ambitions in the Indo-Pacific.

Source: TH