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Option for Quad Summit on Jan 27 remains on table, focus on maritime security
Several working groups under the Quad framework have continued their work in areas ranging from critical and emerging technologies to health and climate change
New Delhi: The option for the leaders of the Quad, which groups India, Australia, Japan and the US, holding a summit in New Delhi in January remains on the table and all the countries are working on a list of deliverables in areas such as technology and infrastructure, people familiar with the matter said.
Australia and Japan have shown flexibility about the holding of the Quad Summit early next year because both India and the US are set to go into general elections, which will sharply reduce the window for such a meeting, the people, familiar with discussions on the issue, said on condition of anonymity.
The holding of the summit will be contingent on US President Joe Biden accepting the Indian government’s invitation to be chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations on January 26. US ambassador Eric Garcetti said in September that Biden has been invited by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to be the chief guest, though the US administration is yet to formally announce its acceptance.
Provided Biden goes ahead with a visit to India next year, the date being considered for the Quad Summit is January 27, the people said. A meeting over the weekend is being considered because Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will be busy with Australia Day on January 26, while his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida will be tied up with a session of the Diet or Japan’s Parliament. The Diet’s session is expected to begin on either January 15 or January 22, and the convention is that the premier cannot be absent during proceedings.
People familiar with preparations in Australia and Japan said the leaders of both countries would be willing to fly to India after concluding their official engagements on January 26 for the Quad Summit.
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“We are willing to be flexible as we know that the window for the meeting is limited, since the Indian side will go into election mode by February or March and then the same thing will happen in the US,” one of the people said.
Several working groups under the Quad framework have continued their work in areas ranging from critical and emerging technologies to health and climate change to put together a list of deliverables for the proposed summit. These groups are building on decisions announced at the third in-person Quad Summit in Hiroshima in May.
“All the countries have their own priorities, but the focus is expected to be on critical and emerging technologies, infrastructure, maritime security, health security and critical minerals,” a second person said.
Much of the Quad’s work since its revival in 2017 has concentrated on ensuring the Indo-Pacific remains peaceful, stable, secure and prosperous and that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries is respected in the face of China’s aggressive behaviour across the region.
At the last summit, the Quad countries issued a statement of principles on clean energy supply chains to back a sustainable and inclusive clean energy transition. For this, the four countries are working with Indo-Pacific partners to facilitate research and feasibility studies to lower the costs of clean energy manufacturing and to enhance regional energy security.
The Quad also announced at the last summit that its vaccine partnership would change into a broader health security partnership that will strengthen coordination for health security in the Indo-Pacific. This includes building capacity to detect and respond to potential epidemics and pandemics.
