What is the Quad Doing in the Indo-Pacific?
As per recent reports, the foreign ministers of the Quad, comprising India, the US, Australia and Japan, are likely to meet on the sidelines of this year’s UN General Assembly (UNGA) meeting. In 2024, India is set to host the Quad Leaders’ Summit. In this context and given Quad’s rising role, this Issue Brief outlines the Quad’s policies and priorities in the Indo-Pacific and reiterates our area-specific recommendations for the Quad.
Quad Focus Areas & Objectives
The Quad focuses on shared objectives in the Indo-Pacific across domains like infrastructure, energy, and cybersecurity, etc. The Quad’s initiatives and policy objectives are encapsulated in the different statements issued at the levels of national leaders, foreign ministers, and other key officials. The table below presents the Quad’s sectoral pillars, the policy objectives that flow from it, and relevant bodies and initiatives as they relate to each pillar.
Quad Working Groups
Over the years, the Quad’s multi-sectoral focus has led to the establishment of Leader as well as Ministerial-level Working Groups. The table below lists each of the Quad’s Working Groups and outlines their focus areas.
Recommendations
In Takshashila Issue Brief - The Quad Agenda for Semiconductors, Biotechnology, and Space, we compiled some of the area-specific recommendations for the Quad, arising from our work, which can not only achieve Quad’s objectives but also help usher in a freer global economic order. Within a ‘bubbles of trust’ approach, we recommend that the Quad engage and cooperate in the semiconductors, biotech, and space sectors.
Read our recommendations here.
Additionally, we have argued that the Quad must follow-up its maritime domain awareness efforts under IPMDA, with a larger maritime security, law enforcement, and governance agenda in the Indo-Pacific. Read it here.
This Issue Brief was compiled by Bharat Sharma, with inputs from Manoj Kewalramani.