Ms. Shruti Pandalai, Associate Fellow at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis, made a presentation on “The Evolving Development and Security Agenda in the QUAD” at the Monday Morning Meeting held on 07 Oct 2024. Dr.. Temjenmeren Ao, Associate Fellow at MP-IDSA, moderated the session. The Director General and scholars of MP-IDSA attended the meeting.

Executive Summary

Dr. Temjenmeren Ao started with opening remarks and some historical briefs about the Quad. He stated that the revival of Quad in recent years has been associated with a change in its objectives. Quad which brought together four nations in response to the humanitarian crisis in 2004, today is a platform for partnership in diverse areas which is key towards the promotion of a free and open Indo-Pacific region. He also emphasised the successive summits and the key initiatives in new areas from climate change to vaccines under its health partnership, AI and emerging technologies, infrastructure, that reinforce Quad as a global force for good to other countries in the region which is capable of stepping up towards delivering public goods. He emphasised how Quad in advancing deeper bilateral and multilateral cooperation such as AUKUS, SQUAD, IPEF, etc. is shaping the security cooperation network in the Indo-Pacific region. He also emphasised that Quad is not a monolithic group by any means, and there is divergence amongst the Quad members about how they perceive security challenges. However, their shared values, and concerns via-vis China are anchoring the partnership. After that, he requested Ms. Pandalai to make her presentation.

Detailed Report

Dr. Shruti Pandalai started with an introduction of the Quad and explained why it is valuable in the plethora of key US led initiatives. She expanded on how the Quad which is an assemblage of like-minded countries in the Indo-Pacific region, was anchoring cooperation in the important geography, and how it would be worthwhile to analyse the evolution of the Quad, its developments and rebirth, key agendas, prospects, challenges, and the relevance of the Quad.

Next, she explained the importance of Quad in maintaining regional stability, deterring economic and maritime coercion, and balancing major power relations amidst the rise of an assertive China.

Ms. Pandalai delved into the shaping of the strategic vision of the Quad when it was revived in 2017 and up until 2019 and talked about the expansion and operationalisation of the public goods agenda between 2020 and 2022. One of her key arguments included that while the development and security agenda of the Quad go hand in hand, it would be incorrect to dismiss the security cooperation within the Quad as insignificant. Increasingly the security agenda includes the Indo Pacific Maritime Domain awareness (IPDM), intelligence sharing, joint exercises like Malabar aimed at enhancing interoperability among the Quad nations, countering regional threats through strategic and operational coordination, and strengthening of Quad.

She also mentioned the impacts of election cycles on the revival of the Quad, and the developments in the Quad in 2023 and 2024. The Quad’s working groups spanning vaccines to climate change, infrastructure, security initiatives, cybersecurity partnerships, and health security initiatives have become the key markers for the Quad’s socialisation.

Ms. Pandalai further discussed recent developments within the Quad, such as joint training, capacity building, 2+2 foreign and security dialogues, collective maritime capacity and capability building, cybersecurity, cooperation on undersea cable connectivity and resilience etc. While talking about the importance of Quad for India, she discussed how it had become the major platform for channelling India’s vision for the Indo-Pacific and outreach on key sectors and initiatives. She argued that it also reflected the transformation of India’s ties with each of the participating nations within the Quad. For India, the agendas overlap in bilateral, trilateral, and multilateral forums with these partner countries and helps building relationships within bureaucracies, military, industries, and technological ecosystems.

Ms Pandalai then addressed the criticism of Quad, especially on hard security. She argued that the motivation of the four countries will remain to balance the security and development agenda of the Quad and provide viable alternatives to regional requirements focussed on cutting-edge tech collaboration.

Concluding her presentation, she mentioned there is no current interest among the members for the expansion of the Quad, cooperation with other partners will continue on issue based agendas and approaches.

Questions and Comments

The Director General, Amb. Chinoy made insightful comments on the Quad. The scholars at MP-IDSA posed a diverse range of questions, including on the expansion of Quad membership and Quad security cooperation. Ms. Shruti Pandalai appreciated the insights from the attendees and answered the questions posed to her.