What is Quad? And will Australia join the Malabar exercise?

The Quad or Quadrilateral security dialogue is an informal strategic group that includes four maritime democracies in the Indo-Pacific region- India, Australia, the US, and Japan. It seeks to increase cooperation and coordination amongst the member countries to preserve a “free and open” Indo-Pacific region

This grouping was initiated by Japan in the year 2007. Apart from holding discussions, these countries (and Singapore) also conducted a joint military exercise that year. India and the US had been conducting ‘Malabar naval exercise’ in the Indian and Pacific ocean annually since 1992. As mentioned, In the year 2007, this exercise included all the Quad nations plus Singapore.

The Quadrilateral security dialogue (Quad) was seen as a response to the growing Chinese assertiveness in the region. However, the grouping never mentioned China explicitly as the target for the strategic alliance.

That said, nothing came of the dialogues as Australia pulled out due to the fear of offending China. Even India wanted to balance its ties between the US and China and remain non-aligned. China had issued formal diplomatic protests (demarche) to the members to convey its displeasure.

Even though the grouping fell apart, Japan joined the annual bilateral Malabar exercises (between India and the US) on and off after 2007 as well. And in 2015, the US and India officially made Japan a permanent partner and the exercise was made into a trilateral exercise.

Interestingly, the quadrilateral dialogue traces its origin to the great Asian Tsunami of 2004. These four countries formed a Tsunami Core Group to co-ordinate the response to the Tsunami and help the countries in need. Consider this-

IN ships, aircraft and helicopters were despatched within hours to render assistance to our Sri Lankan, Maldivian and Indonesian neighbours in distress. This swift response established our navy’s credentials as a credible regional force and the following day the Commander US Pacific Fleet sought our concurrence, telephonically, for his units to join the rescue effort. Within a week, the navies of the US, Australia Japan and India had come together to form “Joint Task Force-536” headquartered in Utapao (Thailand). This established the framework for “quadrilateral coordination”.

Source: Indian Express

The Quad was revived in 2017 and named Quad 2.0 in the backdrop of growing China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific region and its claim over the South China sea. The Doklam stand-off revigorated India’s interests in the group. The officials from these four countries met in Manila ahead of the East Asia Summit.

The discussions focused on cooperation based on their converging vision and values for promotion of peace, stability and prosperity in an increasingly inter-connected region that they share with each other and with other partners.

They agreed that a free, open, prosperous and inclusive Indo-Pacific region serves the long-term interests of all countries in the region and of the world at large.

Since the Quad’s resurrection in November 2017, the group has met five times.

The recent border stand-off in Ladakh and the growing belligerence of China amidst the pandemic may force India to play a leading role in the grouping.

India is planning to invite Australia to the next trilateral Malabar exercise. It will send a strong message to China that India and Australia have shed their initial inhibitions in embracing the group.  In 2018, India had excluded the Australian forces to avoid the perception of a military group against China.

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