Twin hurdles hinder India’s maritime role

• As the Quad grouping of India, Australia, Japan and the U.S. looks to roll out an Indo-Pacific maritime domain awareness (MDA) initiative for information sharing and maritime surveillance across the region, two issues limit India’s ability to further expand its role. These are:
  • infrastructure constraints
  • continued delay in posting Indian liaison officers (ILOs) at other facilities and centres in the region.

Background

• The scope of information sharing for MDA has significantly expanded in recent years among Quad countries as well as with littoral states against the backdrop of expanding Chinese naval presence across the region.
• ILOs bring to the table one’s local expertise and can’t be determined from here and also help in building linkages with various agencies in their home countries.

About IFC-IOR

• It was set up in 2018 to coordinate with regional countries on maritime issues and act as a regional repository of maritime data.
• It presently has linkages with more than 20 partner countries and multi-national agencies across the globe.
• It is located in Gurugram, India.

Roles and functions of a liaison officer

• The liaison officer will be based full-time at the centre, working directly with the Indian armed forces and fellow liaison officers from partner nations to enhance maritime domain awareness in the region.

Quad Summit 2022

• It is a group made of four nations, India, Japan, the US, and Australia.
• It is a strategic forum that features semi-regular summits, information exchange, and military drills.
• Key focus - development of the Indo-Pacific region highlighting the threats like terrorism, disinformation, and territorial disputes.
• This year Quad leader summit is held on the 24th of May 2022, in Tokyo.
• Issues addressed in The Quad summit 2022
  • China and the Soloman Islands
  • China and Taiwan
  • North Korea Missiles
  • Ukraine and Russia

Initiatives unveiled in Quad summit 2022

• Peace and Stability
  • Quad leaders discussed the conflict in Ukraine and the ongoing tragic humanitarian crisis, and assessed its implications for the Indo-Pacific.
  • They expressed their commitment towards cooperation with partners in the region who share the vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific.
• On China
  • Without naming China, the joint statement called out Beijing and strongly opposed any coercive, provocative or unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo and increase tensions.
  • It also emphasised the need for the maintenance of freedom of navigation and overflight, to meet challenges to the maritime rules-based order, including in the East and South China Seas.
• COVID-19 and Global Health Security
  • To date, the Quad partners have collectively pledged approximately USD $ 5.2 billion to the COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC).
  • It has delivered over 670 million doses, including at least 265 million doses to Indo-Pacific.
  • The participating leaders expressed their commitment to continue to share quality-assured COVID-19 vaccines where and when they are needed.
  • They welcomed the progress on the expansion of J&J vaccine production at the Biological E facility in India under the Quad Vaccine Partnership.
  • In March 2021, Quad leaders launched the Quad Vaccine Partnership for enhancing equitable access to vaccines.
  • They had decided to donate more than 1.2 billion vaccine doses globally, in addition to the doses we have financed through COVAX.
  • These vaccines were to be developed in the US, manufactured in India, financed by Japan & US, and supported by Australia.
• Infrastructure
  • Quad leaders promised to extend more than 50 billion USD of infrastructure assistance and investment in the Indo-Pacific, over the next five years.
  • They also decided to promote debt sustainability and transparency through various means.
  • This includes the Quad Debt Management Resource Portal, which consists of multiple bilateral and multilateral capacity building assistance.
• Climate
  • The summit launched the "Quad Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Package (Q-CHAMP)” with mitigation and adaptation as its two themes.
  • Q-CHAMP includes ongoing activities under the Quad Climate Working Group on:
  • green shipping and ports aiming for a shared green corridor framework building on each Quad country’s input;
  • clean energy cooperation in clean hydrogen and methane emissions from the natural gas sector;
  • strengthening clean energy supply chains, welcoming the contribution of the Sydney Energy Forum;
  • climate information services for developing an engagement strategy with Pacific Island countries; and
  • disaster risk reduction, including disaster and climate resilient infrastructure
• Cybersecurity
  • The leaders decided to coordinate capacity building programs in the Indo-Pacific region under the Quad Cybersecurity Partnership.
  • They also decided to initiate the first-ever Quad Cybersecurity Day to help individual internet users to better protect themselves from cyber threats.
• Critical & Emerging Technologies
  • In the area of 5G and beyond 5G, the participating leaders decided to advance interoperability and security through the signature of a new Memorandum of Cooperation on 5G Supplier Diversification.
  • The Common Statement of Principles on Critical Technology Supply Chains was launched on the occasion of this Summit.
  • This advances the cooperation among Quad countries on semiconductors and other critical technologies.
• Quad Fellowship
  • The Quad Fellowship was officially launched.
  • The Fellowship will bring 100 students from Quad countries to the United States each year to pursue graduate degrees in STEM fields.
• Space
  • Quad countries decided to share space-based civil Earth observation data, along with providing a "Quad Satellite Data Portal” that aggregates links to their respective national satellite data resources.
• Maritime Domain Awareness and HADR
  • A new maritime domain awareness initiative, the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA), was launched.
  • The IPMDA would offer a near-real-time, integrated, and cost-effective maritime domain awareness picture.
  • It will respond to humanitarian and natural disasters, and combat illegal fishing. It will also allow the tracking of “dark shipping” across the Indo-Pacific region.
  • It will support and work in consultation with Indo-Pacific nations and regional information fusion centers in the region.
  • The summit also announced the establishment of the "Quad Partnership on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) in the Indo-Pacific”.
  • This Partnership will further strengthen the collaboration to effectively respond to disasters in the region.

Exam Track

Prelims Takeaway

• IPMDA
• IFC-IOR
• QUAD- 2022

Mains Track

Q. India’s engagement in the recent QUAD -2022 summit is a reflection of its evolving multi-polar foreign policy. Comment.