Quad is back: Four vital takeaways from the foreign ministers’ Washington meet

A structural problem that the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or the ‘Quad’ as it is commonly called, is the fact that it is personality-centric, with the vicissitudes of the grouping’s fortunes varying with the extent to which it is favoured or disfavoured by the US President.

In the mercurial Donald Trump, the Quad is destined to swing all the more.

After having shown an inclination to downgrade the importance of Quad upon his second term assumption of the presidential office, Tuesday’s meeting of the foreign ministers of India, Australia and Japan, and the US Secretary of State in Washington DC had indications that the Quad may be back in the reckoning—but mainly with a focus on the American agenda.

First, while the joint statement had a substantial paragraph on China, there was nothing to indicate the inclusion of New Delhi’s primary contention with Beijing—a contentious border. 

The statement says of the South China Sea issue: "We are seriously concerned by the militarisation of disputed features."

So why wasn’t there a mention of the disputed Line of Actual Control that is the de facto border between India and China-controlled Tibet?

 

Second, the joint declaration reveals the desperation of the US for critical minerals. Expressing concern about supply disruption and lack of reliability of key supply chains, it says: "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." No prizes for guessing which country that is.

That is the reason for the launch of the Quad Critical Minerals Initiative on Tuesday. The statement explained 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". It means henceforth it will be a collective effort on the part of Quad in the US hunt for critical minerals.

Third, the signed statement said on North Korea: "We express deep concern about countries that are deepening military cooperation with North Korea, which directly undermines the global non-proliferation regime." Now North Korea collaborates militarily the most with Russia besides China and Iran. The declaration therefore would have a definite impact of India’s bilateral and traditionally close relationship with Russia.

Fourth, while Quad has been publicly declared to be a non-military grouping, Tuesday’s meeting resulted in a further buttressing of its footprint in the maritime and transnational security domains.

The statement said: “The Quad is expanding maritime law enforcement cooperation with the region, which will support efforts to curtail illicit maritime activity, including piracy, drug trafficking, infringements on border security, and illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing."

 

It is said the more things change, the more they remain the same. Tuesday’s Quad meeting again underlined the primacy of US and preservation of American interests in the Quad. 

India