The group did, however, succeed in releasing the Joint Statement and Vision Statement of the Quad Leaders, promising further commitments and unveiling new structures to promote cooperation in the Indo-Pacific area. Even as non-traditional security concerns have been neatly intertwined with the security imperatives of the area, the Quad is skillfully repositioning itself as a group with core security interests in the Indo-Pacific without explicitly defining such ambitions.
Source: Current Affairs – Adda 247
A dual emphasis on institutional procedures and a technology-oriented strategy are at the core of this recalibration, which is likely to keep the Quad prepared to address both conventional and unconventional security problems in the Indo-Pacific area.
The most recent summit highlighted a tripartite institutional linkage between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), and the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), with a focus on the member nations’ collective efforts to promote peace, security, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.
This not only emphasizes the value of regional frameworks and institutions as the preferred mode of operation for the members, but it also identifies the South China Sea, the South Pacific, and the Indian Ocean region as three key areas of attention for the Quad. Long-term, the Quad is projected to connect the three subregions along its expanding emphasis arc, which includes technologically assisted climate action, renewable energy development, infrastructure improvement, and marine security.
The division of the Indo-Pacific region into three institutional systems and the development of the Indo-Pacific as a democratic region with common respect for regional leadership are also highlighted. Additionally, it suggests a continuum of strategic threats that extends from the Pacific to the Indian Ocean.
The Pacific theatre is currently a clear area of interest for the Quad countries to increase non-traditional engagement. The third Summit of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation and the US-Pacific Island Forum were two significant gatherings that immediately followed the Quad meeting.
The 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent, which was launched to address issues like climate change-related impacts and the escalation of geostrategic competition, aims to support regionally inclusive objectives while also addressing the immediate and core security interests of nations like Australia and Japan regarding China.
Source: Drishti IAS
The need to encourage investments in strategic technologies, such as clean energy, semiconductors, essential minerals, and quantum, as well as the creation of the Clean Technology Initiatives to speed up the region’s transition to renewable energy include Energy Supply Chains and the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA), which was unveiled during the Tokyo Quad Leaders’ Summit in 2022. To promote a safe and secure marine environment, the IPMDA specifically aims to improve maritime surveillance, information sharing, and cooperation.
Finally, a regional approach to health security is shown in the expansion of the vaccination relationship between the Quad countries during the Covid-19 pandemic into a larger Quad Health Security relationship, with an emphasis on enhancing health security in the Indo-Pacific area. A possible rebalance within the Quad was foreshadowed by the recent gathering of senior military officers from Quad nations in California.
What do you think about this? Comment below.
