Quad gains momentum as ministers reaffirm Indo-Pacific cooperation

The Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held in New Delhi last month shows that the alliance is not becoming obsolete; rather, it has gained further credentials as a needed deterrence and fallback because the very strategic environment that created it has become more militarised and the threats have deepened, according to an article.

Attended by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Foreign Ministers of India, Japan and Australia, the grouping is moving into a more practical phase. The meeting has dispelled doubts that the alliance has weakened due to President Donald Trump’s desire to stabilise trade ties with China and possible ambiguity over Taiwan, according to the article in Eurasia Review.

It further highlights that the joint statement from the meeting reaffirmed cooperation on maritime domain awareness, critical minerals, energy security, infrastructure, counter-terrorism and regional resilience, while expressing concern over coercive actions in the South China Sea and East China Sea and opposing unilateral attempts to change the status quo.

One of the most important outcomes was the decision to mobilise around $20 billion in public and private investment for critical minerals supply chains, including mining and processing, to counter China’s dominance in rare earths and critical mineral processing, the article observed.

"The Quad understands that securing the Indo-Pacific is not only about naval and military assets with aircraft carriers and missiles, but also increasingly about human capital for the control of logistics, who finances infrastructure, who sees maritime movement first, who processes the minerals needed for defence and technology, and who can keep sea lanes open during a crisis," the article added.

--IANS