Opinion Quad seems more cohesive and ready to act on initiatives agreed upon previously. But complex challenges remain

The Tokyo summit of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue comes at a time of momentous geopolitical changes triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It has reaffirmed that the grouping of four important democratic powers in the Indo-Pacific region is here to stay, and remains relevant in the new world order that is taking shape. It has settled questions about US interest in the region at a time when it is preoccupied in what is now very nearly a proxy war against Russia. Much will, of course, depend on how long the the conflict in Ukraine lasts, how it might end, and what other changes and security and economic challenges it brings in its wake. India’s separate and differing stand on the war did not create any dissonance at the summit. Indeed, the Quad now seems more cohesive as a group, and ready to act on initiatives agreed upon previously — committing $50 bn for infrastructure building in the region, creating a new partnership for maritime domain awareness with regional states to combat illegal fishing and respond to humanitarian disasters, recommitting to a Covid 19 vaccination project, and making some forward movement towards tackling the disruption in the global supply chain for semiconductors, with the release at the summit of the Common Statement of Principles on Critical Technology Supply Chains. Even if China has not been mentioned, clearly all these initiatives are intended to act as a check and balance against the regional superpower, and build resilience in areas such as critical technologies, where it can prove to be a disruptor.

Undoubtedly, what has given the Quad a sharper edge in its objective of ensuring a “rules based order” and an “open and free” region — not so coded references to Beijing — is the launch of the US Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. This is a new trade bloc in which12 countries including India, Japan and Australia, have expressed readiness to join, though membership will come only after negotiations on commitments that applicants are willing to make.

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At the summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the Quad as a “force for the good”, and lauded the “the confidence and determination” of the group to ensure an “inclusive” Indo-Pacific region. The statement, however, may have hid more than it gave away. For Delhi, the only Quad country dealing with an active land border with China, and stalemated talks on PLA’s incursions on India’s side of the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh, the challenges and choices are complex, especially as China continues to build war-like infrastructure on its side of the LAC. The Ministry of External Affairs deployed unusually sharp language by describing a new bridge across the Pangong Lake as coming up on “illegally occupied” territory. India knows that after the bonhomie in Tokyo is over, the challenge posed by the bridge will still need to be faced.

This editorial first appeared in the print edition on May 25, 2022 under the title ‘Closer together’.