US President Joe Biden hosted PM Modi, Australian PM Anthony Albanese, and Japanese PM Fumio Kishida at his Delaware hometown for a farewell summit on Saturday.
India’s participation in Saturday’s sixth Quad summit also aligns with New Delhi’s “Act East” policy and PM Modi’s efforts to forge deeper engagement with East Asian nations.
Also read: Quad a force for good, more strategically aligned than ever, says joint statement
At the summit PM Modi described the grouping as a “force of Global Good”, and added that “it is here to stay, partner and contribute”, said sources.
“The PM further described Quad as Quick Unified Assistance Delivery,” the sources said.
Without naming China, which with India has been engaged in a standoff along the line of actual control (LAC), PM Modi said Quad is not against anyone, but for a rules-based international order and respect for sovereignty.
“Free, open, inclusive and prosperous Indo-Pacific is our priority,” Modi said in his opening remarks.
‘Quad is here to stay’, says PM Modi
The PM said Quad “here to stay” as many positive and inclusive initiatives have been taken in areas like health security, technology and climate change.
“Our message is clear — Quad is here to stay, to assist, to partner and to complement. Together we have taken many positive and inclusive initiatives in areas like health security, critical and emerging technologies, climate change, capacity building,” PM Modi said.
Quad leaders’ Cancer Moonshot event
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced 7.5 million US dollars worth of support for sampling and detection kits and vaccines to fight cervical cancer as part of India’s vision of “One Earth One Health”.
“India is ready to share its experience and expertise. Today, many experts from India working in cancer care have joined us in this event. India’s vision is One Earth One Health. I announce the support of sampling kits, detection kits and vaccines worth USD 7.5 million,” PM Modi said.
Also read: ‘Indian community has distinguished itself in the USA’, says PM Modi
Consensus on reforming UN Security Council
In a big boost to India’s ambition for the permanent UN Security Council seat, the leaders agreed to reform the UN Security Council, and recognised the urgent need to make it more representative, inclusive, transparent, efficient, effective, democratic and accountable through expansion in permanent and non-permanent categories of membership.
India’s Quad initiatives
- India will be offering technical assistance and capacity building on DPI in cancer care to interested countries from the Indo-Pacific region through its commitment of $10 million to the WHO’s Global Initiative on Digital Health.
- India will invest $ 2 million in setting up new solar projects in Fiji, Comoros, Madagascar, and Seychelles.
- India announced new category of scholarships for students of the Indo-Pacific region which would enable them to pursue a 4-year bachelor’s level engineering programme at a Government of India funded technical institute.
- As part of Quad’s activities in the space domain, India is setting up a space-based web portal for Mauritius to assist in monitoring of extreme weather events and climate impacts.
- A commitment from the Serum Institute of India, in partnership with Gavi and the Quad, to support orders of up to 40 million HPV vaccine doses for the Indo-Pacific region.
- India announced a new category of scholarships for students of the Indo-Pacific region which would enable them to pursue a four-year bachelor’s level engineering programme at a Government of India-funded technical institute.
- In the area of sustainable and resilient port infrastructure, India will be hosting a capacity building workshop with the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).
Quad infrastructure push
In the four-corner meeting, the members agreed to harness the Quad’s collective expertise to support sustainable and resilient port infrastructure development across the Indo-Pacific.
Under the initiative, the Quad partners will share practices to ensure that our ports are able to maintain an acceptable level of service and infrastructure to ships, cargoes, and other customers in the face of disruptions (e.g. pandemics, natural disasters and cyber or terrorist attacks); this varies with port size, location and type of operations.
In the meeting, the first-ever “Quad-at-Sea Ship Observer Mission” for 2025 was announced to “improve interoperability and advance maritime safety between our Coast Guards across the Indo-Pacific”.
Logistic network
The Quad Indo-Pacific Logistics Network pilot project will be rolled out to pursue shared airlift capacity among our nations and leverage our collective logistics strengths, in order to support civilian response to natural disasters more rapidly and efficiently across the Indo-Pacific region.
A “Semiconductor Supply Chains Contingency Network Memorandum of Cooperation” was announced that would leverage the complementary strength of the Quad partners to realise a diversified and competitive market and enhance Quad resilience in semiconductor supply chains.