Leaders of Quad likely to meet in May in Sydney
This will be the third annual leaders’ summit of Quad members India, Australia, Japan and the US. Tokyo played host to the last summit in May 2022.
The Quad leaders’ summit is expected to be held in May this year in Sydney, according to people aware of the matter.
This will be the third annual leaders’ summit of Quad members India, Australia, Japan and the US. Tokyo played host to the last summit in May 2022.
During the Tokyo meeting, the four leaders unveiled an ambitious agenda—from maritime domain awareness and supply chain security to infrastructure development.
While the grouping was initially believed to have an outsized focused on defence and military cooperation, the Tokyo summit led to the creation of cooperation groups on infrastructure, emerging technologies and cybersecurity among other fields.
“There is going to be greater emphasis now on how various ideas in the May 2022 statement can be operationalised. The focus will be on getting the Quad working on issue areas where all four countries are equally invested. The debate will be about how effective this platform is going to be and giving the Quad a greater sense of operational capability. That, in my view, will be the driving focus now that countries have largely moved past the covid-19 pandemic,” said Harsh Pant, professor of international relations at King’s India Institute.
However, the meeting is also likely to focus on bringing Quad partners on the same page on a number of contentious issues.
For example, New Delhi is perceived to be more cautious on expanding the Quad’s defence engagements in contrast to its Quad partners, all of which have been part of US-led security architecture in the region for decades.
“Given where the regional security situation is headed and where the challenges are, I think India is likely to be under some pressure on that front,” added Pant.
Disagreements on the economy are also likely to come to the fore. “America is likely to be under pressure on the economic front. America’s new economic and trade arrangements like the Inflation Reduction Act rely on a protectionist ideology. They are seen to be privileging their own industries. There are going to be challenges about reconciling domestic priorities with larger strategic priorities in the regions,” Pant argues. Despite this, the Quad has managed disagreement in the past. Despite diverging positions on the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the grouping’s cooperation on shared interests has continued largely undisturbed.
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First Published:23 Jan 2023, 11:52 PM IST
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