Why in news?
Quad Ministerial Meeting was held recently in Tokyo. After the meeting, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa released a joint statement.
They expressed their enthusiasm for the upcoming Quad summit in India, highlighting the importance of the summit in strengthening their collaborative efforts. The ministers reiterated their commitment to advancing a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific region and emphasized the importance of their partnership in addressing regional and global challenges.
The joint statement underscored the shared values and strategic interests of the Quad nations.
What’s in today’s article?
- Quad
- Key highlights of the Quad Ministerial Meeting
Quad
- About
- The grouping of four democracies –India, Australia, US and Japan– is known as the quadrilateral security dialogue or quad.
- The aim of this grouping is to ensure a free and open international order based on the rule of law in the Indo- Pacific.
- Objectives
- The group’s primary objectives include
- 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.
- Evolution of Quad
- Following the Indian Ocean tsunami, India, Japan, Australia, and the US created an informal alliance to collaborate on disaster relief efforts.
- Quad as a formal group was first mooted by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2007.
- However, due to Chinese resistance and reluctance shown by India, it could not move ahead.
- Later, during the 2017 ASEAN Summits, all four former members re-joined negotiations to revive the quadrilateral alliance.
- The Quad was upgraded to the ministerial level in September 2019.
- In March 2021, the first-ever summit of QUAD leaders took place virtually.
- It was participated by the PMs/Presidents of all the member countries. The summit was hosted by US.
- Later, in September 2021, the first in-person meeting of Quad leaders was hosted by the US.
- Divergences between India and the remaining Quad members
- Divergences between India and the remaining Quad members US, Japan and Australia over Russia and bilateral differences over the Pannun assassination plot have cast a shadow on the grouping.
- With Beijing as the principal challenge, Quad is trying to paper over the differences and make a case for cooperation.
Key highlights of the Quad Ministerial Meeting
- India to host Quad Leaders’ Summit in 2024
- Ministers reaffirmed that India will host Quad Leaders’ Summit in 2024 and USA will host the next Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in 2025.
- On Ukraine War
- The participating leaders expressed their deepest concern over the war raging in Ukraine, and flagged respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity.
- This was a clear reference to Russian invasion of Ukraine.
- Significantly, this formulation of respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity is not used by India in its national statements on the Russia-Ukraine war.
- The negative impacts of the war in Ukraine with regard to global food and energy security, especially for developing and least developed countries, was also highlighted.
- Free and open Indo-Pacific
- The Quad leaders reaffirmed its steadfast commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.
- They vowed to work towards a region where no country dominates others and each state is free from coercion in all its forms.
- This was a veiled reference to China’s aggressive behaviour in the region.
- Achievements of Quad highlighted
- Leaders also listed the outcomes from the Quad meeting including:
- the Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness initiative that links information fusion centres;
- the Open-RAN (Radio Access Network) deployed in Palau;
- a space-based climate warning system to be launched in Mauritius, and
- off-grid solar projects in the Indo-Pacific.
