On 24 June 2024, the third Quad Policy Planners’ Working Group meeting was held in New Delhi, India’s capital. According to the Ministry of External Affairs, the meeting discussed critical priorities of the Indo-Pacific region. The meeting exchanged several ideas, including the future of the Quad and discussed significant issues concerning the Indo-Pacific region. The diplomatic partnership among the four nations- Australia, India, Japan, and the United States- through Quad is committed to fostering an open, stable, prosperous, resilient, and inclusive Indo-Pacific.
Mr Randhir Jaiswal, the official Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, India, commented on his social media account, X, “Third meeting of the Quad Policy Planners’ Working Group held in New Delhi today.” He added that the “Meeting discussed key priorities of the Indo-Pacific region and ideas for the future of the Quad.”
The Quad regrouped in 2017 and created six working groups focussing on various initiatives and policies. The fifth Quad Leaders Summit convened in Hiroshima in 2023. It witnessed the participation of US President Mr. Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Mr. Anthony Albanese, Japanese Prime Minister Mr. Fumio Kishida and Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.
Quad’s practical and positive agenda emphasises the delivery of outcomes for the Indo-Pacific, responding to the region’s prioritised requirements and crucial challenges. Quad focuses on health, security, infrastructure, climate change, critical and emerging technology, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, cyber security, space, maritime security, counter-terrorism, and countering disinformation.
The Quad ensures that their work coordinates with engagements in the Indo-Pacific through bilateral cooperation and regional institutions. All the Quad members are longstanding ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Dialogue Partners. They believe in the ASEAN-led regional architecture, the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific, and ASEAN centrality.
The Quad had commenced collaboration after the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Since then, the group has regularly engaged through leaders, Foreign Ministers, senior officials, Quad sherpas, and experts. The group is referred to as the Quad, instead of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, to highlight its diplomatic partnership, not security partnership.
