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The Quad summit move agenda forward

Biden views the Quad partnership of four major democracies in the Indo-Pacific as vital to challenge China's growing influence in the region. 

Gurjit Singh
New Delhi
Thu, June 16, 2022

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The Quad summit move agenda forward Flock together: Quad leaders (from left to right) Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, United States President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announce the Quad Fellowship scholarship program during their summit at Kantei in Tokyo on May 24, 2022. (AFP/Saul Loeb)

T

he fourth Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) summit in Tokyo on May 24 showed the commitment to periodic meetings since the Biden administration took over.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the most senior leader among the four Quad leaders. United States President Joe Biden and Japanese PM Fumio Kishida are more recent entrants and Australian PM Anthony Albanese participated only after a victory in the elections a few days prior to the summit.

Undoubtedly the Quad assimilated to create a challenge to China’s hegemonic intent in the Indo-Pacific. The US pivot to Asia was inadequate and required the support of likeminded and willing countries like India, Japan and Australia. While Japan and Australia are US allies, India is an important strategic partner.

A difference between the Quad summits of 2021 and 2022 is the context. The summits of 2021 amid the pandemic, reduced the rhetoric on security and strategy and focused more on functional cooperation, particularly targeting ASEAN whose centrality was important. It became evident that to challenge China the main arena was the South China Sea, where China is seriously fulfilling strategic ambitions and winning over ASEAN countries with large economic cooperation.

Japan is a major economic partner of ASEAN, but by itself could not match the strategic economic outreach of China and thus the Quad adjusted its positions. Since ASEAN prefers not to take sides between China and the US, the readjustment of Quad’s public positions was to bring alignment with ASEAN concerns.

The 2021 summits focused on COVID-19, better health security, and the Quad vaccine initiative; they sought a Quad Infrastructure Coordination Group, climate issues, hydrogen, education and people to people exchanges. Critical and emerging technology remained an important area where there is serious competition with China which leads to cybersecurity issues.

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The 2022 summit was convened after the Ukraine crisis, whose broader implications were discussed. The US remained keen to gather the Quad to provide support to Ukraine, in a similar manner to what it prospers in the Indo-Pacific.

India remains lukewarm to this. The Ukraine crisis, portraying Russia as enemy number one, has the potential of derailing the concerted challenge to China in the Indo-Pacific. The Indo-Pacific policies which the Quad pursues ought to remain focused on China and should cover Russia only if Russia becomes more aggressive in the Indo-Pacific.

The Tokyo Quad summit showed the US having more interest in the region, despite the Ukraine crisis. Biden hosted a summit with the ASEAN leaders on May 12-13 and then proceeded on a tour of South Korea where he met the new President Yoon Suk-yeol and to Japan. The intent was to strategic security cooperation with both allied and encourage them to impose further sanctions on Russia amid the Ukraine war.

Though Biden wants Quad to look at Russia’s Ukraine invasion and the North Korea’s nuclear threats, he views the Quad partnership of four major democracies in the Indo-Pacific as vital to challenge China's growing influence in the region. The balance among these threats is varied between the Quad partners.

Among many things that the Quad is cooperating around, dealing with COVID-19 is important. The Quad vaccine initiative has already agreed to manufacturing facilities in India. There is another group dealing with decarbonized green shipping lines in the Indo Pacific, which will use hydrogen as the fuel.

The Quad infrastructure coordination group is looking at quality infrastructure in the region. This is again an area of Indian and ASEAN interest, as through this alternative to Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) may be found.

An important group deals with critical technologies and cybersecurity. India has an interest in both particularly in setting up semiconductor production in India, to become part of an independent supply chain and not remain dependent on Chinese supplies. Cybersecurity is an area of importance for India. The Quad cybersecurity and semiconductor initiatives are good outcomes from the Summit

The six major forward movements at the Tokyo Quad Summit included:

First, the "Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness", which brings commitment to a faster, deeper maritime awareness of rapid maritime movement in regional waters.

Second, Quad seeks to mobilize $50 billion of infrastructure assistance and investment in the Indo-Pacific, over the next five years. This will keep debt stress in view to differentiate it from the BRI.

Third, the “Quad Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Package (Q-CHAMP)” with “mitigation” and “adaptation” as its two themes was launched. Q-CHAMP includes ongoing activities under the Quad Climate Working Group on green shipping and ports aiming for a shared green corridor framework and others. Its coverage includes new cooperation in clean fuel ammonia, Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage (CCUS)/carbon recycling, cooperation and capacity building support to advance high integrity carbon markets.

Fourth, The Quad will increase interoperability and security through the signature of a new memorandum of cooperation on 5G Supplier Diversification and Open RAN.

Fifth, the Common Statement of Principles on Critical Technology Supply Chains, launched at the summit, advances Quad cooperation on semiconductors and other critical technologies, providing a cooperative foundation for resilience against various risks.

Sixth, the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) has brought 13 countries together to discuss an economic future together. This is the first time India is an economic arrangement in the Indo-Pacific. It included all Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) countries except China, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar and adds India and the US. Its success is that it gets seven ASEAN countries to join the consultative process.

What is announced is a framework for discussions and consultations will ensue. Due to this it has become easier for India to say yes. India agreed to be consulted, rather than sign up to IPEF.

The IPEF is not a trade pact and does not offer trade access to the US market. It is essentially an instrument trying to raise the standards and quality and security of critical technologies.

Its framework overlaps with Quad preferences which broadly cover climate, critical technologies, semiconductors, quality infrastructure and dealing with COVID-19. There are a host of other ideas, many of them core ideas, which may resonate in the IPEF. It remains to be seen how many of these can be brought into focus and proceed to clear commitments.

The Quad is on the right track and is getting better at implementing its ideas and securing adherents and acceptability.

 ***

The writer is a former Indian ambassador to Indonesia, ASEAN, Germany, Ethiopia and the African Union.

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