Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for a three-day trip to the United States today. (September 21). He will attend the sixth Quad Summit in Wilmington’s Delaware and will also hold meetings with US President Joe Biden.
“Today, I am embarking on a three-day visit to the United States of America to participate in the Quad Summit being hosted by President Biden in his hometown Wilmington and to address the Summit of the Future at the UN General Assembly in New York,” the PM said in a statement before his departure.
He added that he looked forward to joining his colleagues Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for the Quad Summit. He emphasised that “the forum has emerged as a key group of the like-minded countries to work for peace, progress and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region”.
PM @narendramodi emplanes for USA, where he will be attending various programmes, including the Quad Summit, a community programme, addressing the Summit of the Future and other bilateral meetings. pic.twitter.com/aqNmlegmG0
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) September 20, 2024
India was originally supposed to host the Quad. India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said the venue was changed “at the request of the US”. The country will now host the next Quad meet in 2025.
The sixth summit is being hosted by Biden at his personal residence in
Wilmington.
But what do we know about the grouping?
Let’s take a closer look:
What is Quad?
The Quad is a grouping comprising the India, the United States, Japan and Australia.
It is aimed at providing an ‘open, stable and prosperous’ Indo-Pacific.
The Quad traces its origins back to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami when all four countries worked hand-in-hand to provide disaster relief efforts.
But at this point it was more of an informal alliance.
The grouping was officially established in 2007 by then Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe.
However, the grouping remained inactive for the next decade.
This was due to concerns, particularly from Australia, that China would be peeved by the grouping.
As per Indian Express, the grouping was once again resuscitated in 2017 after the countries viewed the reemergence of China as a potential problem for the region.
However, unlike Nato’s Article 5 where an attack on one is considered an attack on all, the Quad has no collective defence component.
Instead, the Quad showcases its cohesion by conducting joint military exercises.
However, despite it being a diplomatic grouping and the lack of a security component, China has complained about it being an ‘Asian Nato’.
Evolution of Quad
Quad saw a natural evolution and elevation in 2021 to the level of the leaders’ summit. The first Quad leaders’ summit took place in the virtual format on March 12, 2021.
The second summit (first in-person) was held on September 24, 2021 in Washington DC.
At the summit, the leaders announced three new working groups on infrastructure, space and cyber issues.
The third Quad leaders’ summit was held virtually on March 3, 2022 to discuss the situation in Ukraine and its impact on the Indo-Pacific.
The fourth summit (second in-person) was hosted by Japan on May 24, 2022.
The leaders launched the Quad Satellite Data Portal to provide regional countries with space-based data for climate and disaster forecasting and sustainable use of marine resources.
The fifth Quad summit (third in-person) was held in Hiroshima, Japan on May 20, 2023.
The 2023 Quad Leaders’ Summit saw a vision statement being released.
“We – the Leaders of Australia, India, Japan and the United States – convened to reaffirm our steadfast commitment to work through the Quad to support a free and open Indo-Pacific that is inclusive and resilient,” the statement read.
“Our vision is for a region that is peaceful and prosperous, stable and secure, and respectful of sovereignty – free from intimidation and coercion, and where disputes are settled in accordance with international law,” it added.
In addition to a joint statement, the Quad leaders’ vision statement — “Enduring Partners for the Indo-Pacific” — was unveiled at the summit, outlining the vision for a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific.
Quad foreign ministers’ meetings
The Quad leaders’ summits use the Quad foreign ministers’ meetings as their base.
The foreign ministers usually discuss strategic challenges in the region, discuss how to collaborate on cure priorities such as maritime security, countering disinformation, counter-terrorism, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
The foreign ministers recently met in Tokyo on July 29, 2024.
They have met eight times thus far.
The ministers in their statement said that they “reaffirm our commitment, common principles, and capacities to preserve and strengthen the international order for the global good.”
(L-R) Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, India’s external affairs minister; Yoko Kamikawa, Japan’s foreign minister; Penny Wong, Australia’s foreign affairs minister and Antony Blinken, US secretary of state, pose for a photograph prior to the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) ministerial meeting in Tokyo, Japan. PTI
“We discussed and deliberated on these shared challenges, and present our respective visions for stability and prosperity together with other countries in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond, and our plans for the Quad to provide tangible benefits for the region,” the statement read.
“We reaffirm the Quad’s steadfast commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, which is inclusive and resilient,” they added.
What can we expect from the summit?
The leaders are expected to deliberate on pressing global challenges, including the Russia-Ukraine conflict, escalating tensions in West Asia and the overall situation in the Indo-Pacific.
The foreign secretary said the Quad summit will have a “very full and substantive” agenda.
A leaders’ declaration will be unveiled at the end of the deliberations.
“The Quad’s constructive agenda continues to develop. We continue to work on development priorities in the Indo-Pacific in implementing sustainable development goals, delivering public goods, and with a strong focus on peace, prosperity and stability in the Indo-Pacific region,” he said.
“Our agenda covers health security, climate change, critical and emerging technologies, connectivity and maritime security and counter-terrorism,” Misri said.
“And therefore, the upcoming visit offers the Quad leaders the opportunity to review the progress achieved in the last one year and set the agenda for next year,” he said.
China will certainly be “high on the agenda” at the Quad Summit set to be hosted by US President Joe Biden in Delaware’s Wilmington on September 21, US National Security Council (NSC) Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby on Wednesday.
Eye on China
While addressing a press briefing, Kirby stressed that it would be irresponsible if the Quad leaders do not hold talks about the challenges that exist in the region caused by China.
When asked whether Quad nations view China as a threat to the Indo-Pacific region, John Kirby said, “I think you’d have to talk to the leaders about their particular view of the PRC. But, I think we all have a common understanding about the challenges that the PRC is posing, but each of them is a sovereign country; they get to decide for themselves what their relationship is going to be with the PRC and how that looks; each of them has a different relationship with the PRC, including us.”
When asked to what extent China will be a focus of the Quad Summit, Kirby stated, “I think it’ll certainly be high on the agenda. I mean, there’s not an opportunity when you get together with these particular leaders, the Indo-Pacific, Quad, where you in fact it would be irresponsible if they didn’t talk about the challenges that still exist in the region caused by aggressive PRC military action for instance, unfair trade practices, tensions over the Taiwan Strait. I have no doubt that that all those issues will come up.”
A top White House official said the Quad summit in Delaware will feature ambitious announcements in multiple areas such as maritime security, high-quality infrastructure and critical and emerging technologies to demonstrate the group’s endurance, a top White House official has said.
“This year’s Quad Summit will feature ambitious announcements in the areas in which the Quad has grown and is used to working and where Indo-Pacific partners prioritise the Quad’s delivery. These include health security, humanitarian and disaster response, maritime security, high-quality infrastructure, critical and emerging technologies, climate and clean energy, and cyber security,” Mira Rapp-Hooper, White House National Security Council Senior Director for East Asia and Oceania, told reporters at a news conference.
A Chinese flag flutters in the wind near China’s third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, as it prepares to set out from Shanghai. AP File
Rapp-Hooper said President Biden is very proud of the fact that the Quad has become a leading regional grouping, and he alongside of Quad partners agreed that the priority for the next several years at least should be focused on institutionalising the Quad and making sure it is strongly rooted in the Indo-Pacific.
“For their part, our leaders have indicated to us that they want to continue to refine and expand the types of cooperative projects that the Quad works on together. I expect they’ll spend a good portion of their discussion not only talking about the deliverables that we announce at this summit but where the Quad should be headed next,” she said.
“For example, given the great work that the Quad has already done to deliver COVID vaccines or improved maritime domain awareness architecture to the Indo-Pacific region, what should be its direction of travel in its next chapter? So I expect that will be top of the agenda when the leaders take a forward-looking lens to the future of the Quad,” the official said.
‘New Delhi is a leader’
Rapp-Hooper said Washington sees New Delhi as a leader within the Quad.
“When it comes to the role that we expect India to play, we expect and indeed see India as a leader within the Quad,” she said on Thursday.
The best encapsulation of the way the US thinks about India’s role is captured in Washington’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, she added.
Since the release of the Indo-Pacific Strategy in February 2022, the US has taken historic strides to advance its vision for an Indo-Pacific region that is free and open, connected, prosperous, secure, and resilient.
“…we say that the United States seeks an India that is increasingly a leader in the region and increasingly a partner with the United States,” Rapp-Hooper said.
“Through the Quad, we are increasingly working on projects in South Asia, which, of course, is a huge strategic priority for the government in Delhi, and we’re grateful for India’s leadership,” she added.
Cancer Moonshot initiative to be unveiled
Misri said Quad leaders will unveil a “milestone” initiative on Saturday to prevent, detect, treat and alleviate the impact of cancer on patients and their families.
Misri said the “Cancer Moonshot” event will take place on the sidelines of the Quad summit in Wilmington, Delaware.
“One of the signature initiatives to be unveiled on the sidelines is the Cancer Moonshot event,” he said.
“Through this milestone initiative, the Quad aims to implement innovative strategies to prevent, detect, treat and alleviate the impact of cancer on patients and their families, and to begin with, we intend to collaborate in reducing the burden of cervical cancer in the Indo-pacific region,” Misri said.
“This is also going to be a kind of a farewell event insofar as Quad is concerned for President Biden and Prime Minister Kishida of Japan,” Misri said.
The Quad event provides Modi with an opportunity to thank both leaders for their leadership in giving momentum and salience to the Quad partnership, he added.
On the sidelines of the Quad summit, the prime minister will hold separate bilateral talks with Biden, Kishida and Albanese.
Modi will address the “Summit of the Future” at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 23. He will also address an Indian community event in Long Island, New York on September 22.
With inputs from agencies
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Publish date : 2024-09-20 19:25:00
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