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The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue also known as “QUAD” was conceptualized as a mechanism for responding to the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004. It was the initiative of USA, Japan, Australia and India together. However, this alliance couldn’t materialize due to growing strategic competition across the Indo-Pacific Region, particularly Australia left the grouping due to China’s pressure and Quad collapsed in 2008. It was Reborn in 2017 to secure “rule based order in the Indo-Pacific Region” and currently it has got prominence due to the convergence of interest and the threat perception of all the member countries, especially in light of China's assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific Region. Nonetheless, major challenges to Quad emanate from different aspirations of its member countries, not having a clear cut agenda or vision. China criticize Quad as an “ASIAN NATO”. Given the challenges, QUAD should go for concrete plans which are inclusive in nature & include more like minded countries from across the world with aim to ensure free, fair and prosperous Indo-Pacific Region.

1.To understand the significance of QUAD in the Indo-Pacific Region. 2.To understand what challenges QUAD is facing in current geopolitical scenario.

1. Panda, Jagannath in his article" Making Quad Plus a Reality" analyzed the importance of Quad Plus in current geopolitical scenario. In recent time US Secretary of State held a video conference with his counterparts from India, Australia ,Brazil ,Israel ,Japan, and South Korea. They discussed the importance of international cooperation ,transparency and accountability in combating covid19 pandemic. Quad Plus is seen as coming together of like minded countries that have stakes in ensuring free, fair, prosperous and rule based order in The Indo-Pacific Region. Quad plus can broaden the agenda of Quad and prevent it from getting criticized as merely anti -china coalition. The importance of multi-sectoral cooperation and convergence in the larger interest of the Global community  among like minded countries is the need of this fragile post covid era.

2. Subramanian, Nirupama in her article" Quad: Opportunities, Challenges" talked about the challenges and opportunities for member countries which become point of discussion in the recent Quad summit in Japan. They discussed issues like Russian-Ukrainian war, China's aggression in the South China Sea, non security issues like artificial intelligence ,5G deployment  & providing alternative to Belt and Road initiative of China in context of infrastructure development.

3. Sundararaman, Shankari in his article " Quad and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework" argued for the importance of IPEF(Indo-Pacific Economic Framework). In recently held Quad summit in Tokyo, US President came up with this framework with aim to strengthen economic partnership among the participating countries to enhance resilience ,inclusiveness, economic growth and competitiveness in the Indo-Pacific Region. IPEF is significant for countering China's expansionist economic ambitions and particularly for India its an opportunity to become Atmanirbhar being not part of any economic block like RCEP(Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership).

Importance of Quad

Opportunity to act as a Net security provider in the Indian Ocean Region

India came up with SAGAR (security and growth for all in the region) initiative to become Net security provider in the Indian Ocean. Through SAGAR, India seeks to deepen economic and security cooperation with its maritime neighbours and assist in building their maritime security capabilities. For this, India would cooperate on the exchange of information, coastal surveillance, building of infrastructure and strengthening their capabilities. Further, India seeks to safeguard its national interests and ensure Indian Ocean region to become inclusive, collaborative and respect international law. Effective Quad cooperation can increase India's presence in Indo Pacific region and provide access to various strategic locations. For example, Indonesia gave India access to strategic sabang port located close to straight of Malacca.

Promoting Multipolar World Order

India believe in multipolar world order and Quad can help India to achieve status of regional super power.

Shaping Post Covid Recovery

India has got opportunity to become world's manufacturing hub due to emerging scenario. Relation between Quad members and China has got constrained due to miss management of covid crisis, aggressive posture in South China Sea among other factors. Member countries like Japan gradually shifting manufacturing unit out of China. Another opportunity we see in furthering medical diplomacy. India has been active participant in WHO’s vaccine program, global alliance GAVI and supplied covid vaccines on humanitarian ground under Maitree program to its neighbours. overall these developments aided to India's soft power.

Countering China's Influence in the Indo Pacific Region

China claims all of the disputed South China Sea in conflict with other countries like Taiwan, Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam. Beijing has built many artificial islands and military installation in the South China Sea. China also has territorial dispute with Japan in the East China Sea. Spratly island, Paracel island & Scarborough island are the important islands claimed by China in the South China Sea. China claims all these islands through nine dash line encircling almost most of the maritime space of South China Sea.

Strengthening Bilateral Relation Among Quad Members

All members now conduct 2+2 dialogue involving foreign and Defence Minister. America's relation with Japan and Australia are naturally more developed. USA and India have signed Logistics exchange memorandum of agreement(LEMOA) and The Communication capability and security agreement(COMCASA). India and Japan also has signed logistics supply agreement and communication agreement.

For USA, Quad provides opportunity to regain hegemony in Indo Pacific region threatened by China's action. According to US National Security Strategy and National Defence Strategy, China is an adversarial power seeking to replace USA in Indo Pacific region. USA’s key objective is to preserve the liberal international order in the Indo Pacific region.

In the recent time, minister of external affairs of India Subramanyam Jaishankar characterized the “firm establishment of the quad as major diplomatic accomplishment of the Government of India”. India's rising interest in Quad is natural. Rising border dispute with China example Doklam standoff, clashes in the Ladakh region have forced India to reorient its foreign policy making Deeper engagement with West particularly towards Quad Which Can fulfil the dream of India to become Net security provider in the Indian Ocean region and beyond. It can also aid India's Act East Policy and strengthen relation with ASEAN countries.

India is actively shaping the quad’s agenda. It should not be seen as an anti-China coalition and should be mindful of the criticism of the Quad coming from its partners like Russia and ASEAN countries. So Indo-Pacific region should look inclusive.

Recent Quad’s Summit and their outcomes

First Summit of leaders of Quad hosted by USA on a virtual platform in 2021 And important highlights of the first Summit are-

Quad Vaccine Partnership- Members came together to ensure equitable access to vaccines to counter pandemic through pooling their financial resources, manufacturing capability and Logistical strength. Member countries welcomed the vaccine maitree initiative of India. It was launched by India to provide for covid vaccine to its neighbour countries.

Discussion over the China's activities- Member countries condemned the Chinese cyber- attacks on the USA targets (Ex-Microsoft Exchange and solarwinds) and of those that took place in India Japan and Australia.

Clean hydrogen partnership- how to reduce costs across all elements of the clean hydrogen value chain

Quad fellowship- this Fellowship will sponsor hundred students per year, 25 from each Quad country to pursue Masters and doctoral degree at leading STEM (science, technology, engineering, management) graduate universities in the USA. It will bring together best minds from four countries.

5G deployment and Diversification- Quad has launched track 1.5 industry dialogue on open Radio access and network(RAN) deployment and adoption, coordinated by the open RAN policy to promote adopt 5G Technology.

Quad climatic working group was launched in order to mitigate climate change risks and to ensure sustainable use of Ocean and Marine resources in the Indo-pacific region.

Recently Second leaders’ summit of Quad held in Tokyo, Japan in May 2022 and the outcomes of the summit are- Indo Pacific partnership for Maritime domain awareness(IPMDA)– IPMDA was announced to enable member countries could respond to natural disasters as well as combat illegal fishing. This acquires significance due to China is said to be responsible for most of the world's illegal fishing and using such fishing and fishing vessels to assert claims over the territorial waters in the East China and South China Sea. This initiative can help countries to secure their exclusive economic zone(EEZ).

Quad has come up with $50-billion-dollar infrastructure project over the next five years to assist developing countries. It will help counter the China's ambitious Belt and Road Initiative(BRI). According to Report of Centre for Global Development, countries like Djibouti, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Maldives, Mongolia Montenegro Pakistan and Tajikistan are highly vulnerable to debt distress due to Belt and Road Initiative projects. Countries like Pakistan and Sri Lanka are facing severe economic crisis, one of the reason being heavy debt crisis.

Indo Pacific Economic Framework(IPEF)- This Framework was launched under the leadership of US President Joe Bidden administration with aim to strengthen economic partnership among participating countries to enhance resilience, sustainability, inclusiveness, economic growth, fairness and competitiveness in the Indo-Pacific Region.

IPEF framework is premised on four pillars- Supply Chain Resilience, Clean Energy, Decarbonation & Infrastructure, Taxation & anti-corruption, Fair and Resilient trade.

This Framework is joined by India, Japan and Australia, ASEAN countries, South Korea, New Zealand. India has great opportunity being part of Indo Pacific economic framework to become manufacturing hub of world. It has its importance in becoming Atmanirbhar Bharat. Indo Pacific Economic Framework may provide opportunity to India in getting Investment and Technology from advanced countries & it can also counter China's economic hegemony in the Indo-Pacific Region.

Quad has come up with Quad climate change adaptation and mitigation package(Q-CHAMP) with mitigation and adaptation as its two themes. This initiative can help India and other member countries to meet commitment under INDCs targets of the Paris Agreement. India’s commitment under INDCs target- it has target of achieving 40% of electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030, improve the emission intensity of its GDP by 33-35% by 2030 below 2005 level, creating carbon sink and increase forest cover which will absorb 2.5 to 3 billion tons of carbon dioxide.

Challenges Facing QUAD

From the initial stage of Quad establishment China showing displeasure with the its agenda termed it as an “Asian Nato”.

China has deeper relationship with ASEAN countries. Recently China has signed Regional Cooperation economic partnership(RCEP) with ASEAN countries. RCEP is a trade deal between ASEAN Countries and China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. Its objective is to lower tariff, open up services and promote investment to help emerging economies catch-up with rest of the world. Regional Cooperation economic partnership will cover about 30% of Global GDP worth $26.2 trillion, nearly one third of the world's population around 90% of trade tariffs within the block will be eliminated. However, India withdrew from RCEP largely because of concern regarding large trade deficit with China and ASEAN countries and the failure of agreement to adequately open up to services.

Check Book Diplomacy of China

It is a type of diplomacy based on Debt carried out in the bilateral relations between countries. it involves one creditor country intentionally extending excessive credit to another debtor country with the alleged intention of extracting economic or political concession from the debtor country when it becomes unable to honour its debt obligation (Often asset based lending, with assets including infrastructure). The conditions of the loans are not made public and the loan money is typically used to pay contractors from the creditor country.

The One Belt One Road Initiative(OBOR), & Maritime Silk route are examples of check book diplomacy. According to the study of International Monetary Fund from 2013 to 2016 China's contribution to the public Debt of heavily indebted poor countries has nearly doubled from 6.2% to 11.6%. A recent report examining the direct implication of the OBOR initiative revealed that there are 23 Countries are at risk of debt distress with 8 countries of particular concern.

Some Foreign Policy Expert fear that China is supporting repressive regimes, exploiting developing countries in a neo-colonialist manner through high rate loans and most of all, seeking to coerce the countries invested in to align with key strategic and military issues. There are several countries from Argentina to Namibia to Laos, Burundi, Chad and Mozambique to Zambia, have been under Chinese debt trap. In Djibouti, public debt has risen to around 80% of the country's GDP and China owns the lion’s share. China has acquired Hambantota port of Sri Lanka on lease for 99 years for its use potentially as a strategic base for Chinese Navy.

Some Countries have come up with alternatives to counter China's Belt and Road Initiative project. Blue Dot Network(BDN) is a multi-stakeholder initiative and led by USA, Japan and Australia to bring together government, the private sector and civil society to promote high quality, trusted standards for global infrastructure development. It is expected to serve as a globally recognised evaluation and certification system for roads, ports and bridges with focus on the Indo Pacific Region. Infrastructure Projects would be graded on Debt, environmental standards, labour standards etc. In 2015, Japan announced ‘the Partnership for Quality Infrastructure’ and plans to spend about $200 billion during the next five years.

The Build Back Better World(B3W) Plan is another initiative proposed by G7 countries is a covid-19 relief, future economic and infrastructure package for developing and lower income countries. Through B3W, like minded countries will co-ordinate in mobilizing private sector capital in four areas of focus i.e. climate, health and health security, digital technology, gender equity and equality. The B3W will envisage countering the aggressive model of development and established a more inclusive model of global development. The investment will be made in a manner consistent with achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement.

China is trying to leverage its position in trade and Commerce to arm twist other Nations. For example- China threatened to stop the supply of Rare Earth Metals to the Japanese electronics industry. The corona Pandemic disrupted the Global supply chain due to lockdown across the world.

Different aspiration of Quad Nations is one of the greatest challenge. India is trying to balance Quad and RIC (coalition of Russia, India &China) India's Defence requirement is more dependent upon Russia than USA. Recently USA has raised concern about the S-400 missile defence system deal with Russia. In Russia-Ukraine war despite pressure from Western countries putting sanction on Russia, India smartly manage its relationship with Russia keeping in mind its own National Interest. There is discontent between Indian stand of being neutral about Russia and the upfront criticism of Russia by the USA & Japan. Australia was reluctant to join Quad initially due to China's pressure. Japan and USA are seeking their own economic interest with China. Also, there is a lack of coherence in the definition of Indo Pacific. For India, main interest is in the Indian Ocean region (Especially Bay of Bengal region) and for Japan, Pacific Ocean is the matter of concern. Quad does not have a strategic vision despite rhetoric relating to the promotion of a ‘Rule Based World Order’. The Quad neither shares a strategic vision nor it is animated by a shared agenda. Quad do not have a permanent secretariat as well.

Quad Plus

The concept of Quad Plus has gained much prominence in current geo-political scenario. In recent past, representatives from South Korea, Vietnam and New Zealand were called for the Quad meeting. USA hosting meeting of Quad Nations invited Brazil, Israel, & South Korea to discuss the Global Response to covid-19. The importance of multi-sectoral corporation and convergence in the larger interest of the Global community among the like-minded countries in the Indo- Pacific region is the need of hour.

Quad Plus can be viewed as a link between its founding Nations and emerging Global Powers that are relevant to regional prosperity, peace and stability. The Quad’s outreach should not be limited to regional states like Vietnam, South Korea but also include like-minded partners in other regions such as European Union and the United Kingdom which are stakeholders in the Indo-Pacific Region. Quad Plus Partners can be included via newly instituted projects like Supply Chain Residence(SRI) initiative which comprises Japan, Australia and India with aim to reduce dependency on China and build resilient supply chains in the Indo Pacific Region. Quad Plus can broaden the agenda and can be helpful in discarding image of Quad primarily as anti-China platform which China terms it as ‘Asian Nato’.

Way Forward

There has been marked differences between the Quad Countries in terms of military capability, strategic priorities, capacity to bear the costs of Chinese retaliation. This put real limitation on the Cooperation. Member Nations should increase cooperation between their armed forces, on standard setting, diplomatic messaging to sustain rule-based order. Quad members should corporate to provide for the alternative to BRI projects. Measures like Blue Dot Network proposed by the USA can be effectively pursued.

In the light of China's assertiveness in the South China Sea and clash with India in Doklam and Ladakh region, the four countries should be able to take incremental steps to deepen their military cooperation that do not provoke China rather act as a deterrent to China's action.

The divergence in Geographic areas of maritime priority among the four states is also seen as weakness of the Quad but it should be seen more constructively as an opportunity to capitalise on natural Maritime division of labour. India should take greater responsibility for the Indian Ocean particularly Bay of Bengal where it has natural advantage, Japan the east and South China Sea, Australia the Eastern Indian Ocean, South China Sea & Pacific Islands and USA over whole of the Indo-Pacific Region.

Given the maritime threats and challenges, enhancing the interoperability of maritime forces should be a priority. Australia should be included in Malabar Exercise, the naval exercise and focus should be on cooperation and coordination in public goods like disaster relief, humanitarian assistance, anti-piracy & Search and rescue operations.

Enhancing Maritime domain awareness across the Indo-Pacific Region is crucial to maintain Status Quo in the region and deter the Chinese assertive actions. This could be in the form of access to Military Surveillance Technology. For Example - Australia and India both now operate US P-8 surveillance aircraft, development of jointly used military infrastructure across the Indo-Pacific Region (For Example- Australia’s Cocos Island and military base, HMAS Sterling and India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands Bases and the expansion of infrastructure sharing agreements. India and USA has signed the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Understanding(LEMOA) in 2016.India and Australia also signed similar agreement in 2020 facilitating reciprocal use of military facilities. Similar agreements could be pursued between all Quad Countries.

Quad could also act together to counter the Chinese economic coercion that undermines the rule based order. Quad Countries together planning to establish ‘Joint Infrastructure Funding’ is seen as an alternative to BRI. Japan, Australia and USA in 2018 established a trilateral partnership for infrastructure investment in the Indo-Pacific which aims to mobilize private sector investment in Infrastructure Projects, digital connectivity and energy infrastructure. A quadrilateral infrastructure fund could leverage each country’s particular expertise and assistance in infrastructure development and ensure that scarce resources are directed towards countries with the greatest geostrategic significance particularly small Island Nations. & Littoral States lying in the important sea lane of communication that can be easily targeted by China should be given priority for developing ports and Critical infrastructure.

The Quad is in the need of clearer vision for itself. It is important to broaden the agenda of Quad and make it more inclusive to ensure free, open and rule based order in Indo-Pacific Region. Time has come to include more like minded countries from across the world which are stakeholders in the Indo-Pacific Region. India should be cautious about the image of Quad being termed as ‘ASIAN NATO’ by China and play active role in fragile post covid world order. The Quad alliance needs to send out a clear message that Globalisation is not a bad word.

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