Why in the news?

  • The Quad grouping  held an official-level counterterrorism dialogue in New Delhi

Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD)

  • What is it? : QUAD is an informal group of India, the US, Japan and Australia.
  • Aim: It is a strategic dialogue with the objective to ensure a free, open, inclusive and prosperous Indo-Pacific.
  • Common Values Upheld by QUAD
    • Political democracies
    • Market economies
    • Pluralistic societies
  • Primary Objectives
    • Maritime security,
    • Combating the Covid-19 crisis, especially vis-à-vis vaccine diplomacy,
    • Addressing the risks of climate change,
    • Creating an ecosystem for investment in the region and
    • Boosting technological innovation.
  • Successes
    • Strategic Alignment: Promotes a Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) to counter China’s influence.
    • Defense Cooperation: Joint military exercises like Malabar and focus on maritime security.
    • Technological Collaboration: Focus on emerging technologies like 5G, AI, and cybersecurity.
    • COVID-19 Partnership: QUAD Vaccine Initiative provided vaccines to Indo-Pacific nations.
    • Climate and Disaster Management: Joint initiatives for clean energy, climate resilience, and disaster response.
    • Economic Resilience: Strengthened regional supply chains and infrastructure development.
  • Failures
    • Divergent Priorities: Member nations have differing security and strategic concerns.
    • Informal Structure: No institutional framework or binding commitments.
    • Anti-China Perception: Seen as a containment strategy, leading to heightened tensions.
    • Limited Regional Impact: Struggles to counter China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
    • Uneven Contributions: Imbalances in member nations’ economic and military capabilities.
    • Domestic Political Challenges: Changes in leadership or policies may affect commitment.
  • Way Forward
    • Institutional Strengthening: Create a formal QUAD Secretariat (example: like NATO’s Brussels HQ) to ensure continuity and long-term coordination.
    • Defence & Security Cooperation: Expand naval exercises such as Malabar to include more complex anti-submarine and cyber-warfare drills.
    • Technology & Supply Chain Resilience: Develop secure semiconductor and critical-mineral supply chains (example: India–US Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies – iCET).
    • Health & Pandemic Preparedness: Scale up the QUAD Vaccine Partnership, replicating India–US collaboration that delivered vaccines to Indo-Pacific countries.
    • Climate & Infrastructure Collaboration: Promote quality infrastructure via Blue Dot Network (BDN) as a transparent alternative to BRI projects.
    • Strategic Communication & Consistency: Maintain unified messaging on Indo-Pacific security (example: joint QUAD Leaders’ Statements asserting FOIP vision).

Source: The Indian Express