By TON Research Section

The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) which includes India, Japan, Australia and the US is an informal strategic forum that is maintained by semi-regular summits, military drills between member countries and other information exchange. The Quad began in 2007 as a mean for countries to coordinate their responses to the tsunami of 2003 in the Indian Ocean and it’s after effects. The Quad faced extremely negative reaction from China and was abandoned in 2008 however; it was revived in 2017 after a freeze of 10 years. A number of informal meetings, military drills and policy coordination among member countries again revitalized Quad that was put on hold for a decade. The first Quadrilateral meeting is described as a US project “an axis of democracies”, was held on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum meetings in May 2007 in Philippines. After the first meeting, China demanded the purpose of meeting, which turned out to be the main reason of non-sustainability of the Quad.

In a new development, Quad leaders met in a virtual summit on March 12^th, 2021. Joe Biden was joined in the meeting by Indian Prime Minister Narender Modi, Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. In the first virtual summit of Quad, the leaders pledged to work together to counter China’s rising influence in the Indo-Pacific region. The four leaders called for a free, open and rule-based Indo-Pacific region that is "anchored by democratic values, and unconstrained by coercion".

Addressing the meeting, President Biden said, “And we're renewing our commitment to ensure that our region is governed by international law, committed to upholding universal values and free from coercion. We’ve got a big agenda ahead of us.”

Addressing the gathering, Mr. Morrison laid out the agenda of the Quad in the near future and said, “We join together as leaders of nations to welcome, what I think will be a new dawn in the Indo-Pacific through our gathering.”

While speaking at the summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Quad an important pillar of stability in the Indo-Pacific region. Prime Minister Suga acknowledged the new dynamism that Quad has received because of the meeting of the top leaders of the member countries.

After the meeting, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said, “The leaders discussed challenges posed by China and focused on pressing global crises including climate change and the corona virus pandemic.”

In the meeting, the US heard from the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or so-called Quad members about China’s coercion of Australia, harassment of Japanese fishing boats around the Senkaku Islands, and aggression on the border with India, Sullivan said.

The Quad leaders also committed to holding an in-person leaders' summit by the end of 2021.

The new Biden administration wants to promote the Quad because it seems to be the key component in the US Indo-Pacific strategy. The Quad is an informal strategic forum but the meetings never featured the four head of the states. Biden’s policy remarks of ‘big agenda ahead” and “the Quad, to be a vital arena for cooperation in the Indo-Pacific,” explains the Quad as a possible counterbalance to increasing influence of China. However, China has completely criticized the collation saying it is an anti-china block and representation of a Cold War mentality. The Quad makes China worry because it is only a united front against China.

Military cooperation has been increased from the last year through bilateral agreements between Quad members and joint military drills. Earlier, in November 2020 Australia joined annual Malabar exercises with the US, India and Japan. These military exercises are conducted annually since 1992 but have grown in size in the recent years. All the Quad members have turbulent relations with China from the past few years. Australia and China relations have been frayed due to a series of trade disputes, India has been involved in military clashes at border in Ladakh, China’s relation with Japan have also been frosty and are in conflict over Senkaku Islands. Meanwhile, the US and China relations have sunk to the lowest level in decades.

While the aims and objectives of Quad grouping remain wary, it is becoming one of the important elements in strategic and geo-economic discussions of the Indo-Pacific region. The increasing significance of the Indian Ocean as a strategic trade corridor calls for a free and open Indo-Pacific. Quad alliance can be deterrence against China dominance threats therefore; the US is trying to strengthen its ties with its allies to increase its regional dominance. Where China is expanding its footprints geographically, the US is backing India and using it as an opportunity in the Indo-Pacific region. The US and India strengthening ties through strategic partnership also act to counterweight China.  Albeit, the rise of China and Quad group in the region underlines the importance of maritime geopolitics and the developments make it clear that Quad alliance will stay and increase despite of China’s resistance.

Undoubtedly, Quad is an extension of power rivalries in the region. The grouping of four democracies is a strategy to confront China that draw attention to competition between China and the US. The US seems to be moving in all directions to contain China’s rise. Competition between China and India in the region has grown to a greater extent and US is using India to maintain its grip. Quad group view the rise of China as a threat. The strengthening ties of the US shows how the US is cautious of increasingly assertive foreign policy of China in the Indo-Pacific region and elsewhere in the world.