Indo-pacific: Quad to expand cooperation

India and the other members of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, aka Quad, agreed on Thursday to expand their cooperation to promote a free, rules-based and inclusive order in the Indo-Pacific region by including other countries and forums.

This was the third consultative meeting of the informal strategic group comprising Australia, India, Japan and the US since it was revived on the margins of the Asean Summit in the Philippines in November last year as a counterbalance to China’s growing presence in the region.

Senior officials of the Quad held the latest meeting in Singapore, also the venue of the second meet in June. “The participants reaffirmed the Asean centrality as the cornerstone of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific,” said a statement from the external affairs ministry. “They agreed to partner with other countries and forums in the region to promote a free, open, rules-based and inclusive order in the Indo-Pacific that fosters trust and confidence,” it added.

The consultations between the external affairs ministry officials and their counterparts from the three other countries, the statement said, focused on regional and global issues of common interest as well as recent developments in the region.

The four countries discussed cooperation in connectivity, sustainable development, counterterrorism, non-proliferation and maritime and cyber security “with a view to promoting peace, stability and prosperity in an increasingly inter-connected Indo-Pacific region that the four countries share with each other and with other partners,” the statement added. In an apparent reference to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which is facing a pushback in parts of Asia and Africa due to concerns over sovereignty and debt traps, the statement said members of the Quad were committed to “strengthening connectivity and quality infrastructure based on sovereignty, equality and territorial integrity of all nations, as well as transparency, economic viability and financial responsibility.”