The Quad needs to work with other groups. ASEAN is the place to start

In recent years, the members of the Quad -- the U.S., Australia, Japan and India -- have each ramped up cooperation and relations with ASEAN countries. In September, Japan became the last of the quartet to upgrade its relationship with ASEAN to the level of a "comprehensive strategic partnership," and each of the four held a separate meeting with ASEAN leaders that month. Even India, which has had the weakest institutional connections with Southeast Asian governments, has markedly increased collaborative efforts in various areas under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Act East" policy. In May, New Delhi conducted joint maritime exercises with ASEAN in the South China Sea. Read the full article here.

Nikkei Asia | The Quad should have its own biomanufacturing hub in India

Biomanufacturing, which uses microorganisms and cell cultures to produce molecules and materials on a large scale, is rapidly rising in importance for Indo-Pacific nations. The world's response to COVID-19 depended on the rapid production of new vaccines through biomanufacturing. Countries with preexisting manufacturing capabilities became the gatekeepers of vaccine supply. Scaling up biomanufacturing in India will be fraught with challenges, however, but these can be overcome with external support. The Quad group in particular is ideally placed to collaborate and boost India's efforts.

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The US Must Provide Concrete Benefits to IPEF Signatories

At the recently concluded Quad summit in Tokyo, India joined the United States (US)-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), created to provide an alternative trading arrangement and counter Chinese dominance in the region. While the scope is broad enough to provide an inclusive platform, the ambiguity, vagueness, and the lack of specific agreements can render it toothless.

As Quad focuses on Tech, the Debate on Standard Setting

Technology will be at the forefront of the first in-person Quad summit in the United States (US). The control of critical technologies and their supply chains remain essential for all States to project their geopolitical influence. However, having a grip on the governance mechanism of these critical technologies in the form of technical standards can be a gamechanger in the geostrategic field.A technical standard serves as a means for governance in the realm of a wide range of technologies. With several emerging fields such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), blockchain, and 5G, there is a need to establish a common direction of functioning for all States and private companies undertaking research and development in the field of technology. While this remains the idea behind the setting up of technical standards, recent developments have broadened the scope of the necessity of these standards.

The Next Step for Quad: A Dialogue on High Tech

This article was first published in Hindustan Times. Views are personal.T-12 is the new G-7. We are not talking about your airport boarding gates. T-12, Tech-10, Democracy-10 are some proposed multilateral mechanisms to enable international cooperation in technology governance.Cooperation, however, won’t be easy because there is significant dissonance even amongst democracies on issues such as competition in the digital economy, privacy, and data governance. The European Union (EU) prefers a regulation-heavy approach centred on protecting users’ data; the United States (US) prefers a less-restrictive approach allowing technology companies to gain scale; and India is considering data localisation measures. Such divergent outlooks run the risk of derailing collaboration.