The Quad increases strategic alignment

The US, Australia, India and Japan have just held the fourth Quad Leaders' Summit in Wilmington, Delaware, the US.

US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the fourth Quad Leaders' Summit in the US, September 21, 2024.

The summit’s joint statement highlighted a series of initiatives in many areas, from health security, maritime security, and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief to critical and emerging technologies.

The summit aimed to strengthen the partnership, increase strategic alignment, and promote a shared vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

This is the first time US President Joe Biden has hosted a Quad Leaders' Summit and welcomed Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in his home city of Wilmington.

The move reflected the incumbent US President's diplomatic approach and deep personal relationships with the leaders of the Quad nations while demonstrating a strong commitment to maintaining and strengthening US alliances in the Indo-Pacific strategy, highlighting the importance of the Quad to the four member countries.

The highlight of the joint statement of the Wilmington summit is that the Quad leaders agreed to expand cooperation on maritime security, focusing on improving interoperability between the coast guards of the member countries.

Accordingly, the leaders plan to launch a first-ever Quad-at-Sea Ship Observer Mission in 2025, expand the training programme for other countries in the region, improve the capacity to monitor and enforce the law at sea and prevent illegal activities.

According to a senior US official, the US will lead the first exercise of the Quad coast guard forces.

Experts say that through cooperation between the coast guard forces, the Quad members not only strengthen security in the region but also affirm their common commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

The joint patrols were originally planned at the 2022 Quad Leaders' Summit in Tokyo, in which Quad leaders announced the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA) to enhance existing maritime domain awareness capabilities through technology, information sharing, and financial support.

All parties agreed to observe the framework over five years, but the implementation of the joint patrols has been delayed for the past two years, and now it needs to be revived.

At this summit, Quad leaders also agreed to allow their forces to share cargo space on planes and vessels for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

Among the other areas of cooperation announced was a project for new communications infrastructure, known as Open Radio Access Network (Open RAN). This is a notable initiative to deploy new communications infrastructure in the Pacific, as the technology is designed to reduce dependence on specific companies and reduce risks in the supply chain.

One of the main goals of Quad cooperation is to build a diverse and sustainable supply chain, as it is the foundation of national energy and technology security. Specifically, there are four areas of cooperation, including resource sharing and joint exploration, research and development, mining, processing and recycling, co-financing of processing facilities and the development of strategic mineral reserves in Quad member countries.

According to analysts, the Biden administration's organisation of the summit right before the US presidential election demonstrates Biden's efforts to strengthen and institutionalise the Quad, focusing on enhancing strategic alignment and deepening cooperation among member countries. Quad leaders want to consolidate a more solid foundation for the future of this cooperation framework.

NDO