Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad)

The White House announced that US President will be hosting the first in-person meeting of the Quad countries.

QUAD

Quad refers to the grouping of 4 countries of India, Japan, Australia, and the US

• Following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the four countries  created an informal alliance to collaborate on disaster relief efforts
• In 2007, then PM of Japan, Shinzo Abe, formalised the alliance as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue
• In 2017, with the rising threat of China, the four countries revived the Quad  broadening the objectives to establish a rules-based international order

Objectives of Quad

• Maritime security recommitting to a shared vision for a free, open, resilient and inclusive Indo-Pacific region
• Combating the Covid-19 crisis, especially vaccine diplomacy
• Addressing the risks of climate change
• Creating an ecosystem for investment in the region
• Boosting technological innovation

Challenges

• Quad is not structured like a typical multilateral organisation and lacks a secretariat and any permanent decision-making body
• Although exercises such as Malabar naval exercise are conducted, Quad does not include provisions for collective defence
• China opposed the formation of Quad and has branded it an emerging “Asian NATO”

Opportunities

• • Quad members have indicated willingness to expand the partnership through a so-called Quad Plus that would include South Korea, New Zealand, and Vietnam amongst others.
  • Although the Quad is perceived to be anti-China, there is no direct reference to China or military security

• QUAD provides a geostrategic vision for India to balance China via global networking but its neighbourhood first policy should also not take backseat