Foreign Ministers of Australia, India and Japan recently noted that, QUAD is cooperating on sharing intelligence information on threats in the Indo-Pacific region.

Key Facts

• Ministers called for justice for the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai (2008) as well as Pathankot airbase attack in 2016, for the first time since this group was formed.
• They held their fourth Quad ministerial meeting in Melbourne on also February 11, 2022, resolved to boost up delivery of more than billion Covid vaccines to be manufactured in India, step efforts to ensure maritime security in the region and to hold a special meet on climate change in 2022.
• They also announced plans for a Quad summit including PM Modi, Australian PM Morrison and U.S. President Biden. The summit would be hosted in first half of 2022, by Japan’s PM Kishida in Tokyo.

Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad)

QUAD is the informal strategic dialogue between India, Japan, USA, and Australia with a shared objective of ensuring and supporting a “free, open and prosperous” Indo-Pacific region. Idea to form QUAD was first mooted in 2007, by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. But it couldn’t move ahead as Australia pulled out of it, due to Chinese pressure. Shinzo Abe again floated the concept of “Democratic Security Diamond” comprising of India, the US, Australia and Japan for safeguarding maritime commons from Indian Ocean to western Pacific. Finally in November 2017, India, Australia, US and Japan formed the QUAD Coalition to come up with new strategy to keep sea routes free of any influence in Indo-Pacific region.

Aim of QUAD

QUAD Grouping aims to counter China’s aggressive behaviour in Indo-Pacific region. India, Japan and Australia had issued separate statements and listed the Indo-Pacific as a major area of Quad’s deliberations. They also resolved to expand cooperation for upholding a rules-based order and respect for international law in the region.