Quad Ministers set to meet in Australia

Contact Counsellor

Last Updated10/02/2022

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will begin a visit to Australia on Thursday and attend a meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Quad (India, Australia, United States, Japan)
The meet will exchange views on regional strategic issues given their shared vision of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region.
The meet is expected to discuss cooperation on vaccines, technology and regional security issues including related to China.

To review ongoing Quad cooperation and build on the positive and constructive agenda announced by the Leaders at the two Summits in 2021
To address contemporary challenges such as the COVID pandemic, supply chains, critical technologies, climate change, infrastructure etc.
The Quad Foreign Ministers meet is expected to lay the groundwork for the second Quad leaders summit likely to take place this summer.

The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) is an informal strategic forum that brings together the US, Japan, Australia, and India for summits, intelligence exchanges, and military drills.
In 2007, the forum began as a dialogue.
The diplomatic and military agreement was largely interpreted as a response to China's growing economic and military might.
The guiding concepts are considered to be ensuring a rules-based global order, a liberal trading system, and freedom of navigation.

In September 2021, the four leaders, meeting in Washington for the first time.
It laid out an ambitious agenda for the grouping, from cooperating on vaccines to regional infrastructure and critical technologies such as 5G.
The four countries pledged to donate more than 1.2 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses globally and produce at least 1 billion doses by the end of 2022.
In March last year, the four countries also set up a new critical and emerging technologies group focusing on 5G, technical standards and technology supply chains.
Also in the works is a joint initiative to “identify vulnerabilities” and “bolster supply-chain security” for semiconductors.

China is the most important driver of the Quad's evolution.
The Quad's strategic glue is China's military aggressiveness against India and Japan, its attempts to corrupt Australian civil society, and its acceptance of open geopolitical rivalry with the US.
The members of the Quad are currently being driven by China's actions in the region and its ""sudden turn toward excessive hostility.""
The United States wants to formalise and expand this informal alliance.

All countries in the Indo-Pacific area, as well as the rest of the globe, benefit from a free, open, wealthy, and inclusive Indo-Pacific region.
Taking on common terrorist and proliferation issues.
Maintaining the rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific, including respect for international law, freedom of navigation, and overflight.
Involving the United States and Japan in South Asian development initiatives will provide the required funds.