New Delhi: The Quad is here to stay—this is the message the leaders of the four countries that make up the grouping conveyed Saturday, with the focus on deepening collaborative deliverables including cancer prevention, maritime security, logistics partnership for humanitarian aid and disaster relief, port infrastructure, semiconductor supply chains and even on digital public infrastructure.
The Quad consists of India, Australia, Japan and the US.
The Quad Leaders’ Summit hosted by US President Joseph R. Biden, saw the four leaders expand the partnership, while maintaining that the minilateral is not aimed at any single country, but a “force for good that delivers real, positive, and enduring impact for the Indo-Pacific.”
“As four leading maritime democracies in the Indo-Pacific, we unequivocally stand for the maintenance of peace and stability across this dynamic region, as an indispensable element of global security and prosperity. We strongly oppose any destabilising or unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion,” said the Wilmington Declaration, the joint statement released at the end of the summit.
The declaration added: “We seek a region where no country dominates and no country is dominated—one where all countries are free from coercion, and can exercise their agency to determine their futures.”
The Quad has seen four in-person leaders’ summits since 2021, and six in all. This summit will be the last one attended by US President Biden and Japanese Premier Fumio Kishida, as the former is not standing for re-election and the latter has announced that he will resign from his post by the end of this month.
China, North Korea & global conflicts
Without naming China, the Wilmington Declaration calls for the “importance of adherence to international law, particularly as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), to address challenges to the global maritime rules-based order.”
“We are seriously concerned about the situation in the East and South China Seas. We continue to express our serious concern about the militarization of disputed features, and coercive and intimidating manoeuvres in the South China Sea. We condemn the dangerous use of coast guard and maritime militia vessels, including increasing use of dangerous manoeuvres,” the declaration added.
A few weeks ago, China and the Philippines, each accused the other of ramming their coastguard ships into one another, near Sabina Shoal, which is a part of the disputed Spratly Islands.
In 2016, an arbitral tribunal ruled in favour of the Philippines, determining that China’s historical claims and activities in the region were unlawful.
On North Korea, the Quad declaration condemned its ballistic missile tests, as well as called on countries to prevent the proliferation of arms to the East Asian country. Earlier this year, the term for the panel of experts monitoring the implementation of sanctions under UN Security Council Resolutions on North Korea was not renewed.
Russia blocked the renewal of the UN panel in March 2024, while there are reports of North Korean missiles being used by Moscow on the battlefield in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir V. Putin visited Pyongyang, earlier this year.
On the war in Ukraine, the Quad leaders called for a just and lasting peace in the conflict in line with the UN Charter, a formulation which was found in the 2023 Quad Leaders’ declaration as well. However, while the 2023 declaration promised the continuation of humanitarian assistance to Kyiv for its recovery, the Wilmington declaration makes no mention of the same.
On the situation in West Asia, the Quad leaders condemned violent extremism by all sides, including the expansion of Israeli settlements into the West Bank. It called for the immediate release of hostages and a ceasefire.
New initiatives
The fourth in-person Leaders’ Summit witnessed a number of announcements under the aegis of Quad. Some of the programmes include the Maritime Initiative for Training in the Indo-Pacific (MAITRI), the Quad Ports of the Future Partnership, a Memorandum of Cooperation for a Semiconductor Supply Chains Contingency Network and the deployment and manufacturing of affordable cooling systems across the Indo-Pacific.
For India, its key elements as a part of the Quad includes the principles for the development and deployment of digital public infrastructure (DPIs), as well as the announcement of a $2 million grant to Fiji, Comoros and Seychelles in new solar projects.
The first-ever Quad Regional Ports and Transportation Conference is scheduled to take place in Mumbai in 2025, to “leverage resources to mobilise government and private sector investments in quality port infrastructure across the Indo-Pacific region.”
The construction of ports has been one of the key pillars of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which has seen Beijing spend close $1 trillion on building transportation infrastructure around the world.
India has also promised a scholarship of $5,00,000 for 50 students from the Indo-Pacific region to pursue an undergraduate degree in engineering at an Indian technical institution.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhari)
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