Quad Summit 2023

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Context:

The Prime Minister of India recently participated in the third in-person Quad Leaders’ Summit in Hiroshima, Japan.

Relevance:

GS II- International Relations

Dimensions of the Article:

Recently, the Prime Minister of Australia, Prime Minister of India, Prime Minister of Japan, and President of the United States held the third in-person Quad Leaders’ Summit.
The summit took place on the sidelines of the ongoing G-7 Summit in Hiroshima and was originally scheduled to be held in Sydney, Australia, on May 24.
However, it was cancelled after the US President announced the postponement of his visit due to debt ceiling negotiations in Washington.

Joint Vision Statement: The leaders issued a joint vision statement titled ‘Enduring Partners for Indo-Pacific’, expressing their commitment to act as a “force for good” and find common solutions for the benefit of the region.
Quad Principles: The leaders also issued three other statements outlining Quad Principles on clean energy supply chains, cyber security and secure software, and critical and emerging technology standards.
International Standards Cooperation Network: The Quad International Standards Cooperation Network was launched, emphasizing the Quad leaders’ support for industry-led, consensus-based multi-stakeholder approaches to technology standards development.
Next Quad Summit: Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that India would host the next Quad leaders’ meeting in 2024.
Condemnation of Terrorism: The Quad leaders unequivocally condemned terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms, including cross-border terrorism.
ORAN Security Report: The leaders released the ORAN Security Report to support industry investment in open, interoperable, and secure telecom platforms.
Quad Investors’ Network: The Quad Investors’ Network was launched as a private sector-led platform aimed at facilitating investments in strategic technologies.

The Quad is an informal strategic forum comprising four nations, namely –India, United States of America, Australia and Japan.
One of the primary objectives of the Quad is, to work for a free, open, prosperous and inclusive Indo-Pacific region.
The group for the first time met in 2007 on the side lines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
It is considered an alliance of maritime democracies.
The forum is maintained through meetings, semi-regular summits, information exchanges, and military drills of all the member countries.
The motive behind the Quad is, to keep the strategic sea routes in the Indo-Pacific, free of any military or political influence.
The core objective of the Quad is, to secure a rules-based global order, freedom of navigation and, a liberal trading system.
The coalition also aims to offer, alternative debt financing for nations in the Indo-Pacific region.

Recently the U.S. has clarified that Quad is not a security or military partnership.
Its purpose is to advance cooperation on key priorities in specific sectors that is consistent with international law
It promotes shared values of its members and underpins peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
A U.S. State Department spokesperson said that “We work to support the rule of law, freedom of navigation and overflight, peaceful resolution of disputes, democratic values, and territorial integrity through open dialogue and information sharing on a diverse set of issue areas, including Maritime Security”.

Quad is becoming a powerful mechanism and its significance is given below:

Helping to vaccinate a big part of the world and getting a lot of vaccines out there,
Strengthening maritime security to push back against aggression and coercion in the Indo-Pacific region,
Working together on emerging technologies and making sure that they can be used in positive ways and an increasingly broad and deep agenda.
It also supports many activities/platforms as part of its shared approach to the Indo-Pacific.

Coming together to foster a free and open Indo-Pacific formed the bedrock of cooperation.
Emphasis was laid on “rule of law, territorial integrity, freedom of navigation and overflight, peaceful resolution of disputes, and democratic values” in the region.
The other areas of immediate focus were the pandemic through strengthening equitable vaccine access for the Indo-Pacific, combating climate change, sharing critical technologies, cyber security, supply chain resilience, and infrastructure and connectivity projects.
Now it commits to promoting the free, open, rules-based order, rooted in international law and undaunted by coercion, to bolster security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.

Quad leaders launched the Quad Vaccine Initiative (QVI) with the aim of manufacturing and distributing at least a billion COVID-19 vaccines for the Asia region by the end of 2022.
As for emerging technologies, the four countries aimed to work on the development and diversification of 5G telecommunications and the creation of supply chains for critical minerals and technologies for making semiconductors used in smartphones, another area where China is a leader.
Quad nations had also agreed to build joint connectivity projects and transparent infrastructure funding for countries in the region.
- The emphasis on connectivity saw the Quad challenge China in another sphere: a coordinated effort to provide financing and sustainable alternatives to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which has led many nations to take loans and accept infrastructure bids from Beijing.
The Quad also created a working group for combating climate change which would oversee efforts to foster green shipping by decarbonising maritime supply chains and promoting the use of clean hydrogen.

-Source: The Hindu