The next summit of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) has been proposed to be held in India later next year instead of January as earlier scheduled, sources told INDIA TV on Tuesday. The Quad comprises the United States, India, Japan and Australia.
"The Quad Summit in India is proposed to be held later in 2024. We are looking for revised dates as the dates currently under consideration do not work with all the Quad partners," said sources. It is to be noted that India hosted the high-profile multilateral G20 Summit in September, inviting prominent world leaders like US President Joe Biden, UK PM Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron and more.
The Quad is a grouping of countries driven by shared interests and values and interested in strengthening a rules-based order in the strategically important Indo-Pacific region. Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended this year's summit in Hiroshima, Japan, on May 20, along with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese, Japanese PM Fumio Kishida and Biden.
PM Modi had last year asserted the importance of consolidating Quad’s constructive agenda and delivering tangible outcomes for the region. He also invited Quad leaders to India in 2024.
Quad Summit 2023
In this year's summit, the leaders of the Quad countries held productive discussions about developments in the Indo-Pacific which affirmed their shared democratic values and strategic interests. They also reiterated the importance of upholding the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and peaceful resolution of disputes, according to the Prime Minister's Office.
They also announced initiatives like the Clean Energy Supply Chains Initiative, the Quad Infrastructure Fellowships Programme, the Partnership for Cable Connectivity and Resilience, the Quad Investors’ Network and many more related the sustainable infrastructure and energy supply chain development.
In August, the Royal Australian Navy hosted the MALABAR naval exercise, where all Quad countries participated. Two Indian Navy warships, INS Kolkata and INS Sahyadri participated in the exercise along with the US Navy and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF).
About the Quad
The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad, is a strategic security partnership between the United States, India, Japan and Australia. It was officially launched by Japan's former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2007. The creation of this military agreement was largely linked to the military and economic power of China, which protested against the Quad and termed it as an 'Asian NATO'.
All sides have expressed that the Quad is not aimed towards any country, yet it is widely considered that the resurrection of the partnership has primarily aimed to counter Beijing's challenges to democracy and its growing aggressiveness in the Indo-Pacific region, particularly its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) across Asia and the Pacific, that comes with strings attached. The Chinese provocation in Doklam in 2017 is considered one of the major reasons for India's renewed interest in the deal.
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