First QUAD meet today with vaccine supply, climate crisis on agenda: All you need to know

The leaders of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or QUAD are all set to hold the historic first Quad meet on March 12. The summit will see Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Joe Biden, Japan Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison come together for its first online meet. Convened by Biden, the meet is expected to cover a range of topics including vaccine supply, climate change, and post-COVID recovery efforts. 

This will be the virtual meeting between PM Modi and Joe Biden since he assumed charge as the new United States President. Both the leaders have spoken twice over the phone since November when Biden was declared the winner of the US presidential elections. 

The White House Press Secretary Jen Psak said "That President Biden has made this one of his earliest multilateral engagements speaks to the importance we place on close cooperation with our allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific."

What is QUAD?

Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or QUAD was officially set up in 2007 by Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The four countries first worked collectively in 2004, in response to the devastation of an earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean. In 2007, QUAD was set up to show what democracies can deliver together and to counter China’s growing influence in Asia. The group was disbanded as India's then PM Manmohan Singh and Australian PM Morrison both denied involvement in efforts against China.

In 2017, QUAD was again renewed during the ASEAN Summit to counter China’s assertiveness in the region. In November 2017, when the four nations formed the "Quad", the aim was to come up with a new strategy to keep the critical sea routes in the Indo-Pacific free of any influence. In 2019, the group was elevated to the level of foreign ministers and they held their first meeting in New York in September.

First QUAD meet details

Ever since the revival of the QUAD group in 2017, this is the first meet where leaders from all four nations will come together to discuss a range of issues. The meeting will be held virtually amid the COVID-19 pandemic on March 12. The four leaders are expected to interact at 7 pm (IST) while it remains to be seen if there is an individual interaction.

First QUAD meet: What to expect?

The historic first QUAD meet will have discussions on a range of topics including free Indo-Pacific, climate crisis and COVID-19 vaccine initiative is expected to be the major topic on agenda. 

 White House Press Secretary also informed reporters that the leaders are expected to discuss  including “facing the global community from the threat of COVID-19 to economic cooperation and, of course, to the climate crisis.

MEA in a statement confirmed that PM Modi will attend the ‘first leaders’ summit of the QUAD framework”. The statement further confirmed that "The leaders will discuss ongoing efforts to combat COVID-19 pandemic and explore opportunities for collaboration in ensuring safe, equitable and affordable vaccines in the Indo-Pacific region."

Free and open access to the Indo-Pacific region

The idea of a free Indo-Pacific has always remained a talking point among the leaders in the wake of China's increasing military muscle-flexing in the region.  Ahead of the meet, the Australian foreign ministry said the Quad is a key pillar of Australia's international agenda and that dialogue will allow the four nations to advance their shared interest in the region. The idea of free and open access to the Indo-Pacific region has remained at the core of the summit which will also see discussions on climate crisis and vaccine initiative. 

Earlier on October 6, 2020, the foreign ministers of the QAUD member nations met in Tokyo and reaffirmed their collective vision for a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific. In fact, the revival of the group happened with an aim to develop a new strategy to keep sea routes in the Indo-Pacific free of any influence.

"The Quad's positive agenda will enable us to progress cooperation among four Indo-Pacific democracies across a range of areas, including to support the region recover from the economic and health impacts of COVID-19," MEA said in a statement.

PM Modi and his Japanese counterpart Suga, during a telephonic conversation on March 9, shared the view that cooperation towards realising a free and open Indo-Pacific is becoming increasingly important, the Japanese foreign ministry said.

COVID-19 vaccine Initiative

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, safe and equal distribution of vaccine remains a top priority and the QUAD leaders will “explore opportunities for collaboration in ensuring safe, equitable and affordable vaccines in the Indo-Pacific region.” As the pandemic continues to pose challenges to the world, the leaders are expected to review the situation and discuss post-COVID recovery efforts. 

US Secretary of State Tony Blinken told lawmakers during a Congressional hearing, “We have a Quad summit meeting on Friday with President Biden, and I expect we’ll see something on vaccines coming out of that summit. There are other things that we’re looking at that we’re working on in the days and weeks and months ahead to make sure that we are a leading international actor in creating greater access to vaccines.”

Countering China

The first meet is seen as a major move to further expand cooperation in the Indo-Pacific as the world worries about China's growing assertiveness in the region. While China’s proactive and assertive activities have worried many, these four countries have set the stage for strategies on Indo-Pacific. The Renewal of QUAD sends a message that democratic rule-based countries "can join hands-on shared political and economic values." The US has been favouring making Quad a security architecture to check China's growing assertiveness

Cooperation on the Indo-Pacific region, Maritime security, emerging and critical technologies, resilient supply chains are major issues aimed at countering China. Not only the Indo-Pacific region but QUAD also aims to counter China's dominance in the rare-earth supply chain. Beijing controls 60% of global rare-earth and is crucial to manufacturing electronic goods. This comes under the rubric of “resilient supply chain”, according to the Indian government’s agenda item.