The fourth meeting of the QUAD grouping's foreign ministers (India, the United States, Australia, and Japan) was recently held in Melbourne, Australia.
The summit took place in the midst of rising tensions between Russia and NATO members over Ukraine, the Afghan conflict, and growing fears about China's "coercion" in the Indo-Pacific area.
Quad is a group of four democracies: India, Australia, the United States, and Japan.
All four countries have the trait of being democratic, and they all embrace the shared goal of unrestricted marine trade and security. The Quad is described as a group of four democracies united by a common goal of ensuring and supporting a "free, open, and prosperous" Indo-Pacific area. Shinzo Abe, the Japanese Prime Minister, proposed the Quad concept in 2007. However, the plan was thwarted when Australia withdrew, ostensibly owing to Chinese pressure. Finally, in 2017, India, Australia, the United States, and Japan created a "quadrilateral" alliance.
For the first time since the group's inception, it has demanded punishment for the Mumbai terror strikes of 26/11 (2008) and the Pathankot airbase attack of 2016. QUAD is already working together to share intelligence on threats in the Indo-Pacific area. All countries were urged to guarantee that territory under their control is not used to commit terror acts and to bring the perpetrators of such crimes to justice as soon as possible.
They made a veiled allusion to China's actions in the South and East China seas while reiterating a commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific "in which governments seek to safeguard the interests of their people, free from coercion."
Reaffirmed commitment to the "flagship" Quad Vaccine programme, which aims to distribute at least one billion vaccinations produced in India to Indo-Pacific countries by the end of 2022, as well as a vow to contribute 1.3 billion vaccine doses internationally. In March 2021, the Quad vaccination collaboration was announced.
It is very concerned about Myanmar's situation and demands for an end to violence, the release of all those jailed unlawfully, including foreigners, and unrestricted humanitarian access. It underlined its support for ASEAN's efforts to find a solution in Myanmar, and urged the military leadership to quickly follow ASEAN's Five-Point Consensus and return Myanmar to democracy. It urged the international community to act together to bring the bloodshed to a stop.
Climate change, vital and emerging technologies, counter-terrorism, infrastructure, Humanitarian-Assistance and Disaster-Relief (HADR), and marine domain awareness are among the additional areas for collaboration mentioned during the QUAD summit in 2021. Through collaboration with like-minded partners, the QUAD is working on 5G technologies and vendor diversity in order to ensure a diversified, open, and interoperable communications environment.
Under the QUAD vaccine cooperation, India is willing to deliver safe and economical Made in India vaccines such as COVOVAX and CORBEVAX.
QUAD is developing an agenda to further India's common vision of an Indo-Pacific that is free, open, and inclusive.
India and Australia have vowed to collaborate in the crucial Indo-Pacific area to establish more reliable and robust supply chains and ensure wide and inclusive growth. The Supply Chain Resilience Initiative was formally inaugurated by the Trade Ministers of India, Japan, and Australia earlier in 2021. (SCRI).
India and Australia, as liberal democracies, will continue to strive for a rule-based international order, freedom of passage in international seas, and encouraging connectivity, development, and security for everyone while respecting each state's territorial integrity and sovereignty. It is eager to collaborate in the Indo-Pacific to promote peace, stability, and economic success.
In relation to Myanmar, India emphasized the threat of insurgency along the Indo-Myanmar border. It also made it clear that it opposes "national sanctions." A number of Myanmar military commanders have been sanctioned by the United States. It remained diplomatically silent on Russia's threat to attack Ukraine.
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