Quad announces expansion of maritime agenda in Indo-Pacific
The Quad has announced a four-point expansion of its agenda, including greater cooperation on the maritime front in the Indo-Pacific and a ‘critical minerals initiative’ to decouple supply chains from China.
These minerals are needed for producing high-technology items.
The Quad slammed Beijing for its ‘dangerous’ and ‘coercive’ attempts to alter the status quo in the South China Sea and the East China Sea and stood by its commitment to “defending the rule of law, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.”
The Foreign Ministers of the Quad countries — the US, India, Japan, and Australia — met in Washington DC on Tuesday and issued a joint statement detailing the future course of the grouping.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Australian and Japanese Foreign Ministers, Penny Wong and Takeshi Iwaya, respectively, were at the event.
The joint statement listed four points for expanding the agenda that include strengthening maritime and transnational security, economic prosperity and security, critical and emerging technology, and supporting humanitarian assistance and emergency response across the Indo-Pacific.
The grouping announced the launch of the ‘Quad Critical Minerals Initiative’, terming it as “an ambitious expansion of our partnership to strengthen economic security and collective resilience by collaborating to secure and diversify critical minerals supply chains”.
In what was an unnamed reference to China, the Quad Joint Statement said it was “deeply concerned” about the abrupt constriction and future reliability of key supply chains, specifically for critical minerals. It added, “Reliance on any one country for processing and refining critical minerals and derivative goods production exposes our industries to economic coercion, price manipulation, and supply chain disruptions, which further harms our economic and national security.”
On the maritime front – directed at countering Beijing’s one-sided claims — the Quad said it will continue to deepen cooperation on maritime law enforcement through regional training initiatives, maritime legal dialogues, and Coast Guard cooperation. The joint statement made clear it “discussed opportunities and challenges in the Indo-Pacific and how the strengths and resources of the Quad can be harnessed to advance peace, security, and prosperity”.
Crucially, targeting China’s attempted hegemony, the Quad said, “As four leading maritime nations in the Indo-Pacific, we are united in our conviction that peace and stability in the maritime domain underpin the security and prosperity of the region”.
The first ‘Quad at Sea,’ using the Coast Guards of the four countries, is on at Guam in the Western part of the Pacific Ocean. The Quad committed that it “strongly opposes any unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion”. The statement reaffirmed that the Quad has a “commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. We underscore our commitment to defending the rule of law, sovereignty, and territorial integrity”. On the East China Sea and South China Sea, the Quad said, “We reiterate our strong opposition to any unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion.”
It mentioned China’s dangerous and provocative actions, including interference with offshore resource development, repeated obstruction of the freedom of navigation and overflight, and the dangerous maneuvers by military aircraft and coast guard and maritime militia vessels, especially the unsafe use of water cannons and ramming or blocking actions in the South China Sea.
Also, the Quad plans to launch the ‘Quad Ports of the Future Partnership’ in Mumbai this year and has collectively contributed over $30 million in humanitarian assistance to support communities affected by the earthquake that struck central Myanmar in March 2023. The first Quad Indo-Pacific Logistics Network field training exercise is also planned this year to strengthen shared airlift capacity and leverage collective logistics strengths to respond to natural disasters more rapidly and efficiently, providing support for regional partners.
World