About the Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA) initiative:
- It was announced at the 2022 Quad Leaders’ Summit in Tokyo.
- It was announced to track “dark shipping” and build a “faster, wider, and more accurate maritime picture of near-real-time activities in partners’ waters”, integrating three critical regions in the Indo-Pacific — the Pacific Islands, Southeast Asia, and the IOR.
- Purpose of IPMDA
- It is a technology and training initiative to enhance maritime domain awareness in the Indo-Pacific region and to bring increased transparency to its critical waterways.
- It harnesses innovative technology, such as commercial satellite radio frequency data collection, to provide partners across Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean region and the Pacific with near real-time information on activities occurring in their maritime zones.
What is QUAD?
- It is known as the 'Quadrilateral Security Dialogue' (QSD).
- It is an informal strategic forum comprising four nations, namely -- United States of America (USA), India, Australia and Japan.
- Objectives: To work for a free, open, prosperous, and inclusive Indo-Pacific region.
- It is considered an alliance of maritime democracies, and the forum is maintained by meetings, semi-regular summits, information exchanges and military drills of all the member countries.
- Formation of QUAD
- Since its establishment in 2007, the representatives for the four-member nations have met periodically. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was the first to pitch the idea for the formation of Quad in 2007.
- In fact, its origins can be traced back to the evolution of Exercise Malabar and the 2004 Tsunami when India conducted relief and rescue operations for itself and neighbouring countries and was later joined by the US, Japan and Australia.
