Outcomes of QUAD summit level meeting

Context:

Leaders of the Quad group of countries — Prime Minister Narendra Modi, U.S. President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida — met at their sixth summit-level meeting at Archmere Academy, Mr. Biden’s former school in Claymont, Delaware, to announce a broad range of outcomes.

These included the launch of a

New coast guard exercise,

A logistics network,

Expansion of maritime surveillance, and

A project to combat cervical cancer.

Quad Wilmington Declaration

To take the Quad agenda forward, they adopted the Quad Wilmington Declaration.

MAITRI workshop

IPMDA is a cooperative initiative that aims to improve maritime awareness and response capabilities in the Indo-Pacific region.

The initiative was announced in May 2022 by the Quad group.

A Maritime Initiative for Training in the Indo-Pacific (MAITRI) to train Quad partners “to monitor and secure their waters, enforce their laws, and deter unlawful behaviour” was also announced. India will host the first MAITRI workshop in 2025.

A maritime legal dialogue has been launched to support actions to uphold the rules-based order,

Quad Indo-Pacific Logistics Network launched

A logistics network pilot project was also launched, which will involve Quad countries sharing airlift capacity to support disaster response.

The countries announced the Quad-at-Sea Ship Observer Mission in 2025 to improve interoperability and maritime safety. Future coast guard missions are planned for after 2025.

Quad Ports of the Future Partnership launched

It will harness the Quad’s collective expertise to support sustainable and resilient port infrastructure development across the Indo-Pacific.

Quad Cancer Moonshot

The ‘Quad Cancer Moonshot’ will involve contributions from all four countries to combat cervical cancer.

The initiative will initially target cervical cancer, a preventable disease with a high death toll in the region, while also setting the stage to address other forms of cancer in the future.

India will commit $10 million towards screening for the disease.

Vaccine manufacturer Serum Institute of India and Gavi will provide up to 40 million vaccines for the region, “subject to approvals”.

About QUAD:

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was the first to propose the formation of Quad in 2007.

QUAD: Timeline of Events

The formation of the QUAD, the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, can be traced back to several key events:

• 2007 Asian Arc of Democracy: The Quadrilateral aimed to establish an "Asian Arc of Democracy". It covers Central Asia, select Southeast Asian nations, Mongolia, and the Korean Peninsula. China was omitted, leading to criticism and concerns of anti-Chinese sentiment.
• 2012 Maritime security: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe proposed the concept of the "Democratic Security Diamond,". It emphasizes the need to review Japan's pacifist constitution and strengthen security ties.
• 2017 Australia's re-entry: Australia initially withdrew from the Quadrilateral in 2008 to improve relations with China. However, they later re-engaged, adopting a more assertive stance despite potential economic repercussions.
• 2018 Trilateral Exercise: The Malabar Exercise, a joint military exercise between India and the US. It was temporarily discontinued due to US sanctions on India after a nuclear test. It was reinstated in 2002 and expanded to include Japan in 2015, involving combat maneuvers and simulated war games.

Overall, these events played a significant role in establishing and developing the QUAD as a forum for strategic cooperation among the participating nations.

Functioning of QUAD:

The Quad is a loose grouping rather than a formal alliance. It does not have a decision-making body or a secretariat, or a formal structure like NATO or the United Nations.

The alliance is maintained through summits, meetings, information exchanges, and military drills.

The Quadrilateral met five times in 2017–2019. During the Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi in 2018, the navy chiefs of Japan, US, Australia, and India came together, one of the first indications of the revival of the Quad's security structure.

Since March 2021, member states of the Quad and their leaders have hosted regular “Leaders Summits”, which have been both online and in-person.

In the month of March 2021, the Quad leaders met virtually for the first time. In September 2021, the first in-person meeting of Quad leaders was held. A similar summit of Quad leaders is being hosted by Japan.

QUAD Summit 2022: The QUAD Summit was held in Tokyo on 24th May 2022.

QUAD Summit 2023: The QUAD Summit 2023 was hosted by Australia.