Quadrilateral Security Dialogue#2017 ASEAN Summit

In the early twenty-first century, the strategic preoccupation of the United States with Iraq and Afghanistan served as a distraction from major power shifts in the Asia-Pacific, brought about by increased Chinese economic power, which undermined America's traditional role in the region.Campbell, K. M., Patel, N. and V. J. Singh, 2008. [http://www.cnas.org/files/documents/publications/CampbellPatelSingh_iAsia_June08.pdf "The Power of Balance: America in iAsia"]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121114132131/http://www.cnas.org/files/documents/publications/CampbellPatelSingh_iAsia_June08.pdf |date=14 November 2012 }} ''Center for a New American Security’’. In the long term the United States has sought a policy of "soft containment" of China by organizing strategic partnerships with democracies at its periphery. While US alliances with Japan, Australia and India now form the bulwark of this policy, the development of closer US military ties to India has been a complex process since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Australian commentaries showed mixed attitudes to a Quadrilateral partnership isolating China.

{{Main|India-United States relations}}

File:Donald Rumsfeld and Pranab Mukherjee.jpg, Minister of Defence for India, at Pentagon, Washington, D.C., 2005.]]

Active US-Indian military cooperation expanded in 1991 following the economic liberalization of India when American Lt. General Claude C. Kicklighter, then commander of the United States Army Pacific, proposed army-to-army cooperation. This cooperation further expanded in the mid-1990s under an early Indian centre-right coalition, and in 2001 India offered the United States military facilities within its territory for offensive operations in Afghanistan. US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee signed a "New Framework for India-US Defense" in 2005 under the Indian United Progressive Alliance government, increasing cooperation regarding military relations, defence industry and technology sharing, and the establishment of a "Framework on maritime security cooperation." India and the United States conducted dozens of joint military exercises in the ensuing years before the development of the Quad, interpreted as an effort to "contain" China.Kumaraswami, Sridhar, "India, US Defence cooperation 'set to escalate.'" The Asian Age, 9 September 2007. Reprinted by the BBC monitoring South Asia. Indian political commentator Brahma Chellaney referred to the emerging Quadrilateral partnership between the United States, Japan, Australia and India as part of a new "Great Game" in Asia, and Indian diplomat M. K. Rasgotra has maintained that American efforts to shape security pacts in Asia will result not in an "Asian Century," but rather in an "American Century in Asia."

Some, like US Lt. General Jeffrey B. Kohler, viewed US-India defence agreements as potentially lucrative for American defence industries and oversaw the subsequent sale of American military systems to India. Nevertheless, some Indian commentators opposed increased American military cooperation with India, citing the American presence in Iraq, hostility to Iran and "attempts at encircling China" as fundamentally destabilizing to Asian peace, and objecting to the presence of American warships with nuclear capabilities off the coast of southern India, or to American calls for the permanent hosting of American naval vessels in Goa or Kochi.Varadarajan, Siddharth, "US seeks India’s help to create 'century of America in Asia'", The Hindu, 5 July 2007.

The Trilateral Strategic Dialogue (TSD) was a series of trilateral meetings between the United States, Japan, and Australia. The TSD originally convened at senior officials level in 2002, then was upgraded to ministerial level in 2005. The United States expected regional allies to help facilitate evolving US global strategy to fight against terrorism and nuclear proliferation. In return, Japan and Australia expected benefits including continued US strategic involvement and the maintenance of strategic guarantees in the region.Tow, William (2008). "Assessing the Trilateral Strategic Dialogue". NBR Special Report. 16.

{{Main|2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami}}

The Quad's origins, also referred to as "Quad 1.0",{{Cite web |last=Fraser |first=Dominique |date=16 March 2023 |title=The Quad: A Backgrounder {{!}} Asia Society |url=https://asiasociety.org/policy-institute/quad-backgrounder |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=Asia Society |language=en}} go back to the humanitarian assistance and disaster relief to the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami,{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2024-09-21 |title=Fact Sheet: 2024 Quad Leaders' Summit |url=https://vn.usembassy.gov/fact-sheet-2024-quad-leaders-summit/ |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=U.S. Embassy & Consulate in Vietnam |language=en-US}} later leading to a wider range of initiatives including maritime, health security, and education,{{Cite web |last=Haby |first=Neely |date=14 Dec 2023 |title=Shifting Quad relief operations from theory to practice |url=https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/shifting-quad-relief-operations-theory-practice |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=Lowy Institute |language=en}} and "with a focus on securing a free and open Indo-Pacific".

In 2021, some commentators wrote that an ad-hoc Tsunami Core Group in response to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami may have been an early precursor to the Quad.{{cite web|url=https://warontherocks.com/2017/11/rise-fall-rebirth-quad/ |date=16 November 2017 |author=Tanvi Madan |title=The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of the 'Quad' |website=War on the Rocks |access-date=22 February 2021}}{{cite news|date=10 March 2021|title=Australia has been in a stalemate with China, but that could be about to change|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-11/the-quad-leaders-meeting-china-trade-test-relationship/13234080|access-date=29 March 2021|work=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|language=en-AU}}

{{Main|Territorial disputes in the South China Sea}}

{{See also||Nine-dash line}}

The nine-dash line refers to the ill-defined{{cite web|website=Sea Research |title= China versus Vietnam: An Analysis of the Competing Claims in the South China Sea |author= Raul (Pete) Pedrozo |url= https://seasresearch.wordpress.com/2014/08/19/china-versus-vietnam-an-analysis-of-the-competing-claims-in-the-south-china-sea-2/ |date= 19 August 2014 |access-date= 11 October 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171011182439/https://seasresearch.wordpress.com/2014/08/19/china-versus-vietnam-an-analysis-of-the-competing-claims-in-the-south-china-sea-2/ |archive-date= 11 October 2017 |url-status=live}} demarcation line used by the People's Republic of China (China) and the Republic of China (Taiwan), for their claims of the major part of the South China Sea.{{cite news |url=http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/319303/news/nation/china-s-new-10-dash-line-map-eats-into-philippine-territory |title=China's new '10-dash line map' eats into Philippine territory |author=Michaela del Callar |date=26 July 2013 |work=GMA News |access-date=19 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150722113246/http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/319303/news/nation/china-s-new-10-dash-line-map-eats-into-philippine-territory |archive-date=22 July 2015 |url-status=live}} The contested area in the South China Sea includes the Paracel Islands,{{efn|The Paracel Islands are administered by China (PRC), but are also claimed by Taiwan (ROC) and Vietnam.}} the Spratly Islands,{{efn|The Spratly Islands are disputed by Brunei, China (PRC), Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan (ROC), and Vietnam, who each claim either part or all the islands, which are believed (hoped) to sit on vast mineral resources, including oil and gas.}}{{cite news |title=PH protests China's '9-dash line' Spratlys claim |first=Tessa |last=Jamandre |url=http://www.malaya.com.ph/apr14/news4.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110419050124/http://www.malaya.com.ph/apr14/news4.html |archive-date=19 April 2011 |newspaper=Malaya |date=14 April 2011 |access-date=2 June 2011}} and various other areas including Pratas Island and the Vereker Banks, the Macclesfield Bank and the Scarborough Shoal. Despite having made the vague claim public in 1947, neither the PRC nor the ROC has ({{as of|2018|lc=y}}) filed a formal and specifically defined claim to the area.{{cite news |url=http://cimsec.org/chinas-nine-dashed-line-faces-renewed-assault/13943 |title=China's Nine-Dashed Line faces renewed assault|work=cimsec.org |last1=Cheney-Peters |first1=Scott |date=14 December 2014 |access-date=15 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160711012509/http://cimsec.org/chinas-nine-dashed-line-faces-renewed-assault/13943 |archive-date=11 July 2016 |url-status=live}} An early map showing a U-shaped eleven-dash line was published in the then-Republic of China on 1 December 1947.{{cite book |last=Wu |first=Shicun |title=Solving Disputes for Regional Cooperation and Development in the South China Sea: A Chinese Perspective |date=2013 |isbn=9781780633558 |page=79 |publisher=Elsevier |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zc5ZAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA79}}> Two of the dashes in the Gulf of Tonkin were later removed at the behest of Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai, reducing the total to nine. Chinese scholars asserted at the time that the version of the map with nine dashes represented the maximum extent of historical claims to the South China Sea.{{cite news|title=Calculated ambiguity in the South China Sea|first=Peter J.|last=Brown|url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/KL08Ae01.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100105111857/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/KL08Ae01.html|archive-date=5 January 2010|work=Asia Times|date=8 December 2009|access-date=18 May 2020|url-status=unfit}} Subsequent editions added a tenth dash to the east of Taiwan island in 2013, extending it into the East China Sea.{{cite web|url=http://www.rusi.org/publications/newsbrief/ref:A5225D72CD72F8/ |title=China's New Map: Just Another Dash? |website=RUSI |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130929225126/http://www.rusi.org/publications/newsbrief/ref%3AA5225D72CD72F8/ |archive-date=29 September 2013 |author=Euan Graham |url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/234936.pdf|title=Limits in the Seas|website=Office of Ocean and Polar Affairs, U.S. Department of State|access-date=23 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200220071523/https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/234936.pdf|archive-date=20 February 2020|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.thanhniennews.com/commentaries/new-tendashed-line-map-revealed-chinas-ambition-28816.html|title=New ten-dashed line map revealed China's ambition|date=19 July 2014|access-date=25 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150725065443/http://www.thanhniennews.com/commentaries/new-tendashed-line-map-revealed-chinas-ambition-28816.html|archive-date=25 July 2015|url-status=dead}}

In early 2007, Prime Minister Abe proposed the Quad, under which India would join a formal multilateral dialogue with Japan, the United States and Australia.Brewster, David(2010). "The Australia-India Security Declaration: The Quadrilateral Redux?". ANU.{{cite web| url=https://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asia-paci/pmv0708/speech-2.html |date=22 August 2007 |title="Confluence of the Two Seas" Speech by H.E.Mr. Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan at the Parliament of the Republic of India |website=Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan |access-date=14 February 2021}}

The initiation of an American, Japanese, Australian and Indian defence arrangement, modelled on the concept of a Democratic Peace, was credited to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.Chellaney, Brahma. [http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/eo20081103bc.html "Different playbooks aimed at balancing Asia’s powers"]. The Japan Times, 3 November 2008 (originally published by the BBC Monitoring South Asia). The Quad was supposed to establish an "Asian Arc of Democracy", envisioned to ultimately include countries in Central Asia, Mongolia, the Korean Peninsula, and other countries in Southeast Asia: "virtually all the countries on China’s periphery, except for China itself." This led some critics, such as former U.S. State Department official Morton Abramowitz, to call the project "an anti-Chinese move",Ching, Frank. [https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2008/04/171_19480.html "Asian Arc of Democracy"] Korea Times, 24 February 2008. while others have called it a "democratic challenge" to the projected Chinese century, mounted by Asian powers in coordination with the United States. While China has traditionally favoured the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the Quad was viewed as an "Asian NATO;" Daniel Twining of the German Marshall Fund of the United States has written that the arrangement "could lead to military conflict," or could instead "lay an enduring foundation for peace" if China becomes a democratic leader in Asia.Twining, Daniel. [http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/29d6bc30-6bc9-11dc-863b-0000779fd2ac.html "The new Asian order’s challenge to China"]. Financial Times, 26 September 2007.

Image:Malabar 07-2 exercise.jpg in the Bay of Bengal in 2007.]]

China sent diplomatic protests to all four members of the Quad before any formal convention of its members.Nicholson, Brendan. [http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/china-warns-canberra-on-pact/2007/06/14/1181414466861.html "China warns Canberra on security pact"]. The Age, 15 June 2007. In May 2007 in Manila, Australian Prime Minister John Howard participated with other members in the inaugural meeting of the Quad at Cheney's urging, one month after joint naval exercises near Tokyo by India, Japan and the United States. In September 2007 further naval exercises were held in the Bay of Bengal, including Australia. These were followed in October by a further security agreement between Japan and India, ratified during a visit by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Tokyo, to promote sea lane safety and defence collaboration; Japan had previously established such an agreement only with Australia.

Though the Quadrilateral initiative of the Bush administration improved relationships with New Delhi, it gave the impression of "encircling" China. The security agreement between Japan and India furthermore made China conspicuous as absent on the list of Japan's strategic partners in Asia. These moves appeared to "institutionally alienate" China, the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), and promote a "Washington-centric" ring of alliances in Asia.Lee, John, "Bush legacy: Better US-India relations." The Straits Times (Singapore), 8 October 2009.Editorial: "China left out in India-Japan pact". The Business Times Singapore, 28 October 2008.

The Japanese Prime Minister succeeding Abe, Taro Aso, downplayed the importance of China in the Japan-India pact signed following the creation of the Quad, stating, "There was mention of China – and we do not have any assumption of a third country as a target such as China." Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon similarly argued that the defence agreement was long overdue because of Indian freight trade with Japan, and did not specifically target China.Varadarajan, Siddharth. "Indian PM stresses economic, security ties with Japan not at cost of China." The Hindu (via BBC Monitoring South Asia), 23 October 2008. {{ProQuest|460061567}} On the cusp of visits to China and meetings with Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and President Hu Jintao in January 2008, the Indian prime minister, Manmohan Singh, declared that "India is not part of any so-called contain China effort," after being asked about the Quad.[https://web.archive.org/web/20080112213919/http://www.hindu.com/2008/01/11/stories/2008011164001200.htm "PM says India not part of “so called contain China” effort"] The Hindu, 11 January 2008.

File:The Hon. Kevin Rudd.jpg terminated the Quad, signaling closer relations with China.]]

Fears over Chinese military spending and missile capacities had helped drive Australia towards a defence agreement with the United States, as outlined by the 2007 Canberra Defense Blueprint; Sandy Gordon of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute had recommended the sale of uranium to India on the basis of similar considerations, as it appeared that the United States was backing it as a "counter to a rising China."McLennan, David, "Uranium sales to India will improve relations: think tank." Canberra Times, 1 June 2007. Chinese anger over the Quad however caused uneasiness within Australia even before the agreements were initiated.Marsh, Virginia, [http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/6d3d5b36-2b5b-11dc-85f9-000b5df10621.html "Warning on Beijing’s arms spending"]. Financial Times, 6 July 2007.

On becoming Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd visited China's foreign minister, Yang Jiechi, even before visiting Japan, and subsequently organized a meeting between Yang and the Australian foreign minister, Stephen Smith, in which Australia unilaterally announced it would "not be proposing" a second round of dialogue between the four partners.Gordon, Josh, [http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/diabolical-dilemmas-in-pms-china-highwire-act-20090404-9si8.html "Diabolical dilemmas in PM’s China high-wire act"]. Sunday Age, 5 April 2009.{{Cite web|last=Wyeth|first=Grant|title=Why Has Australia Shifted Back to the Quad?|url=https://thediplomat.com/2017/11/why-has-australia-shifted-back-to-the-quad/|access-date=29 March 2021|website=The Diplomat|language=en-US}}{{Cite news|date=8 April 2008|title=Mysterious quad more phantom than menace|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-04-09/mysterious-quad-more-phantom-than-menace/2397936|access-date=12 April 2021|work=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|language=en-AU}} Within Australia, this decision was seen as motivated by the uncertainty of China-United States relations and by the fact that Australia's principal economic partner, China, was not its principal strategic partner.Lee, John, [http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/opinion/pm-may-trump-rudd-in-managing-china/story-e6frgd0x-1226042443693 "PM May Trump Rudd in Managing China"]. The Australian, 17 August 2011. Rudd may furthermore have feared regional escalations in conflict and attempted to diffuse these via an "Asia-Pacific Union."

Some US strategic thinkers criticized Rudd's decision to leave Quad; the former Asia director of the United States National Security Council, Mike Green, said that Rudd had withdrawn in an effort to please China, which had exerted substantial diplomatic effort to achieve that aim.Sheridan, Greg, [http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/asia-fears-rudds-china-fixation/story-e6frg6t6-1111116233965 "Asia fears Rudd's China fixation"], The Australian, 3 May 2008. A December 2008 leaked diplomatic cable authored by US ambassador Robert McCallum reveals that Rudd did not consult the United States before leaving the Quad.Callick, Rowan, [http://www.theaustralian.com.au/in-depth/wikileaks/rudd-revelations-are-old-news/story-fn775xjq-1225967898606 "Rudd Revelations are Old News"]. The Australian, 9 December 2010.

File:Mountains of Arunachal Pradesh.jpg, a region claimed by China to be part of Tibet.]]

US President Obama's efforts in November 2009 to improve US–Indian relations raised alarms in India and Australia both that a deepening military alliance between these powers could lead to regional escalations. According to analyst John Lee, "For realists ... New Delhi has been warily balancing and competing against Beijing from the very moment of India's creation in 1947;" significant tensions between China and India were associated with the disputed Indian province of Arunachal Pradesh, and with Chinese nuclear weapons stationed on the Tibetan Plateau. Rudd's calculation may have been that as a regional economic power, China was too important to contain through a simplistic Quadrilateral Initiative undertaken by US, India, Japan and Australia in 2007, when many regional powers are hedging their alliances in the event of a Japanese and an American decline.Lee, John, "For once, it's better to end with a whimper." The Straits Times (Singapore), 25 November 2009.

In the years between the cessation and restart of the Quad, Quad members continued to cooperate on a bilateral or trilateral level, sometimes with non-Quad members involved.{{cite web|url=https://www.iss.europa.eu/sites/default/files/EUISSFiles/Brief%203%20The%20Indo-Pacific_0.pdf|title=The Indo-Pacific: A passage to Europe?|author=Eva Pejsova|date=March 2018|website=European Union Institute for Security Studies|access-date=10 April 2021}} This was especially the case in joint military exercises: Japan joined for the first time the Australian Kakadu and Nichi Trou Trident naval exercises in respectively 2008 and 2009, Japan and India held for the first time a joint naval exercise in 2012 and Australia and India did the same in 2015, Australia joined the US-Philippines Balikatan exercise for the first time in 2014 and Japan did the same in 2017, Japan joined for the first time the Indian Malabar exercise in 2015, and Japan joined for the first time the Australian-US joint Defence Exercise Talisman Saber in 2015.

Image:Julia Gillard US Ambassador.jpg with US Ambassador Jeff Bleich in June 2010.]] Rudd's replacement as Australian prime minister by Julia Gillard in June 2010 was associated with a shift in Australian foreign policy towards a closer relationship to the United States and a distancing from China. The Australian, which has written extensively on the Quad and on Australian defence issues, argued after Rudd's replacement that "Australia's national interest is best served by continuing to engage and encourage our long-standing ally, the US, to retain its primacy in the region."Frydenberg, Josh, [http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/washington-is-integral-to-our-region/story-e6frg6ux-1225926937881 "Washington is integral to our region"]. The Australian, 21 September 2010. Despite Gillard's rapprochement with the US and increased US-Australian military cooperation, Rudd's decision to leave the Quad remained an object of criticism from Tony Abbott and the Liberal Party.Sheridan, Greg, [http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/opinion/popular-reflections-finding-no-favour-in-beijing/story-e6frgd0x-1226198284748 "Popular reflections finding no favour in Beijing"]. The Australian, 18 November 2011.

Australia's decision not to sell uranium to India had weakened the Quad,Mattoo, Amitabh, [http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/time-to-invest-in-indian-partnership/story-e6frg6ux-1226116240249 "Time to invest in Indian partnership"]. The Australian, 17 August 2011. a move also criticized by the Liberal Party; the Party has however backed Gillard's support for a US military presence near Darwin, overlooking the Timor Sea and the Lombok Strait.Sheridan, Greg, [http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/defence/come-on-down-abbott-says-coaltion-would-welcome-us-bases-in-australia/story-e6frg8yo-1226128454856 "Come on down: Abbott would welcome US"]. The Australian, 3 September 2011. With support from the United States, Gillard and the Labor party have since reversed policy and backed the sale of uranium to India, which has refused to sign the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.Choudhury, Uttara [http://www.firstpost.com/india/india-can-thank-uncle-sam-for-julia-gillards-uranium-backflip-131951.html "India can thank Uncle Sam for Julia Gillard's uranium backflip"]. Firstpost.com: India, 16 November 2011. On 5 September 2014, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott agreed to sell Uranium to India.

{{Main|East Asian foreign policy of the Barack Obama administration}}

The Obama administration's 2011 US "Pivot to Asia" represented a significant shift of resources and priorities in the foreign policy of the United States away from the Middle Eastern/European sphere and the US began to invest heavily in East Asian countries, some of which are in close proximity to the People's Republic of China.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/04/the-obama-doctrine/471525/|title=The Obama Doctrine|first=Jeffrey|last=Goldberg|magazine=The Atlantic|date=10 March 2016|access-date=26 August 2016}} The pivot also included taking the lead in the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement and rejecting the Chinese claims on the islands in the South China Sea. The US policy shift towards East-China was generally seen as a move to oppose the growing influence of China in the region. In July 2013, when Obama named Susan Rice the US National Security Advisor, Rice sought a cooperative relationship with China.{{cite web|url=https://thediplomat.com/2014/09/nsa-susan-rice-in-china-rethinking-new-type-great-power-relations/|author=Shannon Tiezzi |date=10 September 2014 |title=NSA Susan Rice in China: Rethinking 'New Type Great Power Relations |website=The Diplomat |access-date=}}{{cite web|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2015/09/21/national-security-advisor-susan-e-rices-prepared-remarks-us-china |date=21 September 2015 |title=National Security Advisor Susan E. Rice's As Prepared Remarks on the U.S.-China Relationship at George Washington University |website=The White House |access-date=6 April 2021}}

{{Main|Senkaku Islands dispute|East China Sea EEZ disputes|Free and Open Indo-Pacific}}

Japan opened a naval base in Djibouti in 2011, its first long term naval base overseas, and part of its growing involvement in the wider Indo-Pacific region.{{Cite web |last=Vertin |first=Zach |date=August 2019 |title=Red Sea Rivalries: The Gulf, the Horn, & the New Geopolitics of the Red Sea |url=https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Red-Sea-rivalries-The-Gulf-the-Horn-and-the-new-geopolitics-of-the-Red-Sea.pdf |access-date=29 January 2025 |website=Brookings.edu}}{{Cite web |date=7 May 2024 |title=Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Defense Matsumoto's Visit to the Republic of Djibouti (Summary) |url=https://www.mod.go.jp/en/article/2024/05/f517e7e0c5482f6fb67c3e337fbc25b326b56f32.html |access-date=2025-01-29 |website=Japan Ministry of Defense |language=}} In December 2012, Shinzo Abe had prepared a proposal on strategic framework "{{ill|Asia’s Democratic Security Diamond|ja|セキュリティダイヤモンド構想}}",{{Cite web |last=Abe |first=Shinzo |date=2012-12-27 |title=Asia's Democratic Security Diamond {{!}} by Shinzo Abe |url=https://www.project-syndicate.org/onpoint/a-strategic-alliance-for-japan-and-india-by-shinzo-abe |access-date=2022-03-02 |website=Project Syndicate |language=en}} a sort of Quad remake, to be published from an international media organization before his second administration in Japan, and it was published on the next day of his prime minister designate.{{cite web|author=Shinzo Abe |url=https://www.project-syndicate.org/onpoint/a-strategic-alliance-for-japan-and-india-by-shinzo-abe?language=english&barrier=accesspaylog |date=27 December 2012 |title=Asia's Democratic Security Diamond |website=Project Syndicate |access-date=15 February 2021 }} The Japanese government had worked to clarify the concepts in Prime Minister Abe's proposal of 2012, implemented in diplomatic statements, and prepared the official announcement of "Free and Open Indo-Pacific" in 2016.

{{Main|Foreign policy of Xi Jinping|Global Security Initiative|Wolf warrior diplomacy}}

File:South China Sea claims map.svg

In 2012, Xi Jinping became the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, succeeding the leader of China. Since then, tensions between China and each of the four Quad countries have increased.{{cite web|url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2021/690513/EPRS_BRI(2021)690513_EN.pdf|title=The Quad: An emerging multilateral security framework of democracies in the Indo-Pacific region|date=March 2021|website=European Parliamentary Research Service|author=Enrico D'Ambrogio|access-date=7 September 2019}} Xi has taken a hard-line on security issues as well as foreign affairs, projecting a more nationalistic and assertive China on the world stage than was the case with China's peaceful rise policy advanced by Xi's predecessor Hu Jintao.{{cite news|url=http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1254093/xi-jinping-nationalist-and-reformer|title=Xi Jinping, a nationalist and a reformer|last=Kuhn|first=Robert Lawrence|date=6 June 2013|work=South China Morning Post|access-date=7 September 2019}} Xi's political program calls for a China more united and confident of its own value system and political structure.{{cite news|url=http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1586307/xi-jinping-rules-out-western-style-political-reform-china?page=all|title=Xi Jinping rules out Western-style political reform for China|last1=Meng|first1=Angela|date=6 September 2014|work=South China Morning Post|access-date=7 September 2019}}

Under Xi's leadership, the PRC has resorted to island building in the Spratly Islands and the Paracel Islands region.{{Cite web|url=https://amti.csis.org/island-tracker/china/|title=China Island Tracker|website=Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative|access-date=30 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190604181623/https://amti.csis.org/island-tracker/china/|archive-date=4 June 2019|url-status=live}} According to Reuters, island building in the South China Sea primarily by Vietnam and the Philippines has been going on for decades; while China has come late to the island building game, its efforts have been on an unprecedented scale as it had from 2014 to 2016 constructed more new island surface than all other nations have constructed throughout history and as of 2016 placed military equipment on one of its artificial islands unlike the other claimants.{{Cite news|last=Johnson|first=William|date=11 May 2016|title=Everything you need to know about the South China Sea conflict - in under five minutes|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-johnson-china-idUSKBN0OQ03620150610|access-date=22 November 2020}} A 2019 article in Voice of America that compared China and Vietnam's island building campaign in the South China Sea similarly noted that the reason why Vietnam in contradistinction to China has been subject to little international criticism and even support was because of the slower speed and widely perceived defensive nature of its island-building project.{{Cite web|date=April 2019|title=Vietnam Quietly Builds Up 10 Islands in South China Sea|url=https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/vietnam-quietly-builds-up-10-islands-in-south-china-sea/4886640.html|access-date=22 November 2020|website=Voice of America|language=en}}

In a 2020 opinion column, former Indian general S. K. Chatterji described China's foreign policy as "salami slicing.".{{Cite news|last=Chatterji|first=SK|date=22 October 2020|title=Wider connotations of Chinese 'salami slicing'|work=Asia Times|url=https://asiatimes.com/2020/10/wider-connotations-of-chinese-salami-slicing/|access-date=25 January 2021}} Between 2015 and mid-2017, the US has conducted five freedom of navigation naval operations (FONOP) in the region.{{cite web|url=https://www.belfercenter.org/publication/freedom-navigation-south-china-sea-practical-guide|title=Freedom of Navigation in the South China Sea: A Practical Guide|last=Freund|first=Eleanor|website=Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School|access-date=30 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190604181625/https://www.belfercenter.org/publication/freedom-navigation-south-china-sea-practical-guide|archive-date=4 June 2019|url-status=live}} In July 2016, an arbitration tribunal constituted under Annex VII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) ruled against the PRC's maritime claims in Philippines v. China.[https://pca-cpa.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/175/2016/07/PH-CN-20160712-Press-Release-No-11-English.pdf The South China Sea Arbitration (The Republic of the Philippines v. The People's Republic of China)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160712201412/https://pca-cpa.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/175/2016/07/PH-CN-20160712-Press-Release-No-11-English.pdf |date=12 July 2016 }}, PCA Press Release, 12 July 2016 The tribunal did not rule on the ownership of the islands or delimit maritime boundaries.{{cite web|url=https://pca-cpa.org/en/news/pca-press-release-the-south-china-sea-arbitration-the-republic-of-the-philippines-v-the-peoples-republic-of-china/|title=PCA Press Release: The South China Sea Arbitration (The Republic of the Philippines v. The People's Republic of China) {{!}} PCA-CPA|website=pca-cpa.org|access-date=12 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160712091907/https://pca-cpa.org/en/news/pca-press-release-the-south-china-sea-arbitration-the-republic-of-the-philippines-v-the-peoples-republic-of-china/|archive-date=12 July 2016|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/13/world/asia/south-china-sea-hague-ruling-philippines.html|title=Tribunal Rejects Beijing's Claims in South China Sea|last=Perlez|first=Jane|date=12 July 2016|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=12 July 2016|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160713064120/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/13/world/asia/south-china-sea-hague-ruling-philippines.html|archive-date=13 July 2016|url-status=live}} Both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China (Taiwan) stated that they did not recognize the tribunal and insisted that the matter should be resolved through bilateral negotiations with other claimants.{{cite news |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-12/china-no-historic-right-to-south-china-sea-resources-court-says |title=China's South China Sea Claims Dashed by Hague Court Ruling |author1=David Tweed |author2=Ting Shi |work=Bloomberg |date=12 July 2016 |access-date=11 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161120074055/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-12/china-no-historic-right-to-south-china-sea-resources-court-says |archive-date=20 November 2016 |url-status=live}}

{{Main|Sino-Indian border dispute|China–India relations#2010s|Look East policy (India)}}

In the years following the cessation of the Quad, India was not keen to reinstate the grouping, out of fear it would antagonize China.{{cite web|url=https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/india-and-the-quad-weak-link-or-keystone/|author=Jeff M. Smith|date=15 January 2019|title=India and the Quad: weak link or keystone?|website=Australian Strategic Policy Institute |access-date=7 April 2021}} After several years of growing tensions with China on a range of topics, and particularly after the 2017 border standoff, India started to express renewed interest.{{cite web|url=https://www.rand.org/blog/2020/07/the-quad-is-poised-to-become-openly-anti-china-soon.html|author=Derek Grossman|date=28 July 2020|title=The Quad Is Poised to Become Openly Anti-China Soon|website=Rand Corporation|access-date=10 April 2021}}

In August 2017, Japan invited Australia, India and the US to hold a joint foreign ministers meeting during the ASEAN summit in November.{{cite web|url=https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/the-quad-as-a-caucus-for-cooperation/|title=The Quad as a caucus for cooperation|author=Akiko Fukushima|website=Australian Strategic Policy Institute|date=30 November 2018|access-date=18 April 2021}}

In November 2016, American president-elect Donald Trump and Prime Minister Abe met and agreed to pursue what Japan calls a "Free and Open Indo-Pacific" strategy, "originally advanced by Japan, although the regional concept of the Indo-Pacific was truly sparked by the former US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton".{{cite web|url=https://www.nippon.com/en/currents/d00436/ |date=9 October 2018 |title=The Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy: India's Wary Response |website=Nippon.com |access-date=19 March 2021 }} The agreement was regarded as a response to China's Belt and Road Initiative, and Chinese minister Geng Shuang responded by stating that "such multilateral initiatives should promote cooperation among countries concerned and not be turned into exclusionary frameworks."

The visit coincided with a meeting by Japanese, Indian, Australian and American officials to continue military cooperation ahead of the ASEAN and East Asia Summits in November 2017.{{cite news|title=Quadrilateral security dialogue: India, Australia, Japan, US hold talks on Indo-Pacific cooperation|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/quadrilateral-security-dialogue-india-australia-japan-us-hold-talks-on-indo-pacific-cooperation/articleshow/61616602.cms|access-date=16 November 2017|work=The Times of India|date=12 November 2017}} The meeting included discussion of China's increased prominence in the South China Sea, and may have signalled U.S. president Trump's interest in reviving a formal Quad.{{cite news|last1=Wyeth|first1=Grant|title=Why Has Australia Shifted Back to the Quad?|url=https://thediplomat.com/2017/11/why-has-australia-shifted-back-to-the-quad/|access-date=16 November 2017|work=The Diplomat|date=16 November 2017}}{{cite web|url=https://www.mofa.go.jp/a_o/rp/page3e_000791.html |date=13 November 2019 |title=Japan-ASEAN Summit Meeting |website=Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan |access-date=16 February 2021 }}

Image:Ships from the Royal Australian Navy, Indian navy, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and the United States Navy participate in Malabar 2020.jpg in 2020.]]

The Quad met five times in 2017–2019.[https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/indias-fine-balancing-act-with-quad-and-brics-meet-in-new-york/articleshow/71338616.cms India's fine balancing act with Quad and BRICS meet in New York], The Economic Times, 28 September 2019. During the Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi in 2018, the navy chiefs of Japan, US, Australia and India came together, one of the first indications of the revival of the Quad's security structure.{{Cite news|last=Unjhawala|first=Yusuf T|date=23 February 2018|title=Quad needs both economic & military plan for Indo-Pacific|work=The Economic Times|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/quad-needs-both-economic-military-plan-for-indo-pacific/articleshow/63049831.cms|access-date=31 October 2020}}

In 2019, four ministers met in New York City to discuss reforming the Quad,{{refn|{{cite web|url=https://www.foreignminister.gov.au/minister/marise-payne/media-release/visit-united-nations |date=22 September 2019 |title=Visit to the United Nations |website=Minister for Foreign Affairs, Australia |access-date=20 February 2021 }}{{cite web|url=https://www.mofa.go.jp/fp/nsp/page3e_001112.html |date=26 September 2019 |title=Japan-Australia-India-U.S. Ministerial |website=Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan |access-date=14 February 2021 }}{{cite web|url=https://warontherocks.com/2020/08/democracys-squad-indias-change-of-heart-and-the-future-of-the-quad/ |title=Democracy's Squad: India's Change of Heart and the Future of the Quad |author=Jeff M. Smith |website=War on the Rocks |date=13 August 2020 |access-date=29 December 2020}}{{cite web|url=https://thediplomat.com/2020/11/a-new-phase-for-the-free-and-open-indo-pacific/ |date=16 November 2020 |author=Shin Kawashima |title=A New Phase for the Free and Open Indo-Pacific |website=The Diplomat |access-date=21 February 2021 }}}} and then again in Bangkok.{{cite web|url=https://2017-2021.state.gov/u-s-australia-india-japan-consultations-the-quad-2/index.html |date=4 November 2019 |title=U.S.-Australia-India-Japan Consultations ("The Quad") |website=United States Department of State |access-date=7 March 2021 }} The next summer, India, Japan and US invited Australia to the co-ordinated navy exercise at Malabar; the exercises were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.{{Cite news|date=11 July 2020|title=India may invite Oz for naval drill|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/india-may-invite-oz-for-naval-drill/story-UsfaAIIbGEJb4s5qC9H6aI.html|access-date=11 July 2020|work=Hindustan Times|language=en}}

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his opening statement, on 24 May 2022, remarked the Quad has gained a significant place on the world stage and that it is a “force for good” for the Indo-Pacific region.{{Cite web |title=Quad A Force For Good, Makes Indo-Pacific Better, Says PM Modi: 10 Points |url=https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/pm-narendra-modis-at-quad-summit-in-tokyo-quad-a-force-for-good-helps-make-a-better-indo-pacific-region-3003210 |access-date=2022-05-25 |website=NDTV.com}}

In March 2020, the Quad members held a meeting with representatives from New Zealand, South Korea and Vietnam to discuss their respective approaches to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The participation of representatives from New Zealand, South Korea and Vietnam, the latter being the first country from Southeast Asia/ASEAN to join, was seen as another attempt to expand the importance of the QUAD as well as the growing threat China posed in the region.{{Cite web|website=The Diplomat |title=Making 'Quad Plus' a Reality |url=https://thediplomat.com/2022/01/making-quad-plus-a-reality/}} Instigated by the US, this new grouping of key Indo-Pacific states was referred to as "Quad Plus". A further meeting was held in May 2021 where Brazil and Israel, two countries with no border to the Pacific Ocean, were invited into the Plus format to discuss the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.

Following the 2020 Malabar naval exercises, American secretary of state and former CIA director Mike Pompeo met with members of the Quad to discuss converting the security arrangement into an "Asian NATO" with "shared security and geopolitical goals".{{refn|{{Cite news|last=Taylor|first=Guy|date=5 October 2020|title='Asian NATO' faces hurdles as Pompeo meets with 'Quad' allies on countering China|url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/oct/5/mike-pompeo-confronts-asian-nato-hurdles-asian-all/|access-date=31 October 2020|work=The Washington Times|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|date=1 October 2020|title=US, European officials mulling to create 'Asian NATO' to contain China's expansionist ambitions|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/us-european-officials-mulling-to-create-asian-nato-to-contain-chinas-expansionist-ambitions/articleshow/78429090.cms|access-date=31 October 2020|website=The Times of India|language=en}}{{Cite web|date=12 October 2020|title=Top US diplomat calls for expansion of Quad group|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/top-us-diplomat-calls-for-expansion-of-quad-group/story-R06qlCO6ft59K6GMJPkEPM.html|access-date=31 October 2020|website=Hindustan Times|language=en}}}} One commentator at the South China Morning Post described the concept as "a bulwark against the rise of China", and a Chinese diplomat protested the concept as an attempt to "wind back the clock of history."{{refn|{{Cite web|last=Srinivasan|first=J.|date=16 July 2020|title=Can the Quad rise to be an Asian NATO?|url=https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/can-the-quad-rise-to-be-an-asian-nato/article32103609.ece|access-date=31 October 2020|website=The Hindu @businessline|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Park|first=Joshua|date=30 October 2020|title=Why the Quad alliance won't realise its 'Asian Nato' ambition|url=https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3107469/why-us-led-quad-alliance-wont-realise-its-asian-nato-ambition|access-date=31 October 2020|website=South China Morning Post|language=en}}{{Cite news|last=Krishnan|first=Ananth|date=13 October 2020|title=China's Foreign Minister says U.S. using Quad to build 'Indo-Pacific NATO'|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/china-fm-calls-us-indo-pacific-strategy-a-huge-security-risk/article32844084.ece|access-date=31 October 2020|issn=0971-751X}}{{Cite web|date=27 October 2020|title=Quad effect: 'Asian NATO' rattles China as local press propaganda goes in high gear|url=https://www.wionews.com/india-news/quad-effect-asian-nato-rattles-china-as-local-press-propaganda-goes-in-high-gear-338406|access-date=31 October 2020|website=WION|language=en}}{{Cite web|last1=Bennett|first1=Yan C.|last2=Garrick|first2=John|date=28 October 2020|title=China's actions have driven the evolution of the Quad|url=https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/chinas-actions-have-driven-the-evolution-of-the-quad/|access-date=31 October 2020|website=The Strategist|language=en-AU}}}} Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar denies China's allegations and claimed India never had ‘NATO mentality’.{{cite news |title=Quad is not 'Asian NATO', India never had 'NATO mentality', Dr. Jaishankar says |url=https://theprint.in/diplomacy/quad-is-not-asian-nato-india-never-had-nato-mentality-jaishankar-says/639924/ |access-date=14 April 2021}}{{cite news |author1=DIPANJAN ROY CHAUDHURY |title=India never had a NATO mentality: EAM S Jaishankar |newspaper=The Economic Times |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/india-never-had-a-nato-mentality-eam-s-jaishankar/articleshow/82071959.cms}}

The foreign secretary of Sri Lanka raised concerns in October 2020 about the militarization of the Quad in the Indian Ocean.{{Cite web|last=Mitra|first=Devirupa|date=30 October 2020|title=Sri Lanka Worried About Indian Ocean's Securitisation, Impact of Quad Military Alliance|url=https://thewire.in/diplomacy/sri-lanka-worried-about-indian-oceans-securitisation-impact-of-quad-military-alliance|access-date=31 October 2020|website=The Wire}} At the same time, Japan, the US and Canada held a joint naval exercise called Keen Sword in October, which was one of several Canadian naval exercises in the Taiwan straits that year, and which was accompanied by diplomatic meetings in Tokyo,{{refn|{{cite web|url=https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4038532|title=US, Japan launch 'Keen Sword' exercise amid fears of Chinese attack on Taiwan|date=27 October 2020|website=Taiwan news|access-date=9 March 2021}}{{cite web|url=https://www.mea.gov.in/Speeches-Statements.htm?dtl/33097/Opening_remarks_by_EAM_at_2nd_Quad_Ministerial_Meeting_in_Tokyo_Japan |date=6 October 2020 |title=Opening remarks by EAM at 2nd Quad Ministerial Meeting in Tokyo, Japan |website=Ministry of External Affairs, India |access-date=20 February 2021 }}{{cite web|url=https://www.foreignminister.gov.au/minister/marise-payne/media-release/australia-india-japan-united-states-quad-foreign-ministers-meeting |date=6 October 2020 |title=Australia-India-Japan-United States Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting |website=Minister for Foreign Affairs, Australia |access-date=20 February 2021 }}{{cite web|url=https://2017-2021.state.gov/u-s-australia-india-japan-consultations-the-quad-senior-officials-meeting/index.html |date=18 December 2020 |title=U.S.-Australia-India-Japan Consultations ("The Quad") Senior Officials Meeting |website=United States Department of State |access-date=20 February 2021 }}{{cite web|url=https://www.mofa.go.jp/press/release/press6e_000244.html |date=6 October 2020 |title=The Second Japan-Australia-India-U.S. Foreign Ministers' Meeting |website=Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan |access-date=14 February 2021}}}}

though no joint statement was produced from the meeting.{{cite news |url=https://asiatimes.com/2020/10/asian-nato-plan-stillborn-at-tokyo-quad-meet/ |title='Asian NATO' plan stillborn at Tokyo Quad meet |last=Bhurtel |first=Bhim |newspaper=Asia Times |date=9 October 2020 |access-date=14 October 2020}} With a visit by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to Tokyo, Australia and Japan agreed in principle to a defence pact that will increase military ties.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/nov/17/australia-and-japan-agree-in-principle-to-defence-pact-that-will-increase-military-ties |date=17 November 2020 |title=Australia and Japan agree in principle to defence pact that will increase military ties |work=The Guardian |access-date=18 February 2021 }}{{cite web|url=https://www.mofa.go.jp/files/100116180.pdf |date=17 November 2020 |title=Japan-Australia Leaders' Meeting Joint Statement |website=Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan |access-date=18 February 2021 }}

In 2021, Li Jimming, the Chinese ambassador to Bangladesh, warned Bangladesh not to join the Quad saying any attempt to do so would seriously damage relations with China. The ambassador described the Quad as “a military alliance aimed against China’s resurgence.” Within Bangladesh these comments attracted criticism both from the government and otherwise for infringing on Bangladesh's sovereignty. Following the controversy Li Jimming walked back his statement saying that he was only expressing his personal view on the issue. However the Chinese Foreign Ministry appeared to defend the ambassador with Hua Chunying stating that “We all know what kind of mechanism the Quad is. China opposes certain countries’ efforts to form an exclusive clique, portray China as a challenge, and sow discord between regional countries and China.”{{cite web |last1=Bhattacharjee |first1=Nilotpal |title=China's Warning to Bangladesh on the Quad |url=https://thediplomat.com/2021/05/chinas-warning-to-bangladesh-on-the-quad/ |website=thediplomat.com |publisher=The Diplomat |access-date=18 May 2021}}

On 3 March 2021, The White House, now under president Biden, issued the "Interim National Security Strategic Guidance",{{cite web|url=https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/03/03/interim-national-security-strategic-guidance/ |title=Interim National Security Strategic Guidance |date=3 March 2021|website=WH briefing room |publisher=The White House, US |access-date=22 March 2021 }} and two days later, Australian Prime Minister Morrison announced that the leaders of the Quad would hold their first-ever meeting virtually. Morrison said he had discussed arrangements with US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in recent weeks.{{cite news|author=Jason Scott |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-05/biden-to-join-first-ever-quad-leaders-meeting-morrison-says |date=5 March 2021 |title=Biden to Join First-Ever 'Quad' Leaders Meeting, Morrison Says |work=Bloomberg News |access-date=5 March 2021 }}

The next week, on 12 March, the first summit meeting was held virtually by US President Biden.{{refn|{{citation-attribution|1={{cite web|url=https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/03/12/quad-leaders-joint-statement-the-spirit-of-the-quad/ |date=12 March 2021 |title=Quad Leaders' Joint Statement: "The Spirit of the Quad" |website=White House |access-date=12 March 2021 }} }}{{cite web|url=https://mea.gov.in/Speeches-Statements.htm?dtl/33618/Prime+Ministers+opening+remarks+at+the+first+Quadrilateral+Leaders+Virtual+Summit |date=12 March 2021 |title=Prime Minister's opening remarks at the first Quadrilateral Leaders' Virtual Summit |website=Ministry of External Affairs, India |access-date=13 March 2021 }}{{cite web|url=https://www.pm.gov.au/media/quad-leaders-joint-statement-spirit-quad |date=13 March 2021 |title=Quad Leaders' Joint Statement: "The Spirit of the Quad" |website=Prime Minister of Australia |access-date=13 March 2021}}{{cite web|url=https://www.mofa.go.jp/fp/nsp/page1e_000310.html |date=13 March 2021 |title=Japan-Australia-India-U.S. Leaders' Video Conference |website=Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan |access-date=13 March 2021}}}} In a joint statement, the Quad members described "a shared vision for a Free and Open Indo-Pacific" and a "rules-based maritime order in the East and South China seas," which they state are needed to counter Chinese maritime claims. Further development of the Quad included the launches of the senior-level Quad Vaccine Experts Group, the Quad Climate Working Group, and the Quad Critical and Emerging Technology Working Group.{{cite web|url=https://www.mofa.go.jp/files/100159237.pdf |date=13 March 2021 |title=Quad Summit Fact Sheet March 12, 2021 |website=Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan |access-date=21 March 2021}}

It had been reported before the summit meeting that the four countries are working to develop a plan to distribute COVID-19 vaccines to countries in Asia as part of a broader strategy to counter China's influence,{{cite web|first1=Demetri |last1=Sevastopulo |first2=Amy |last2=Kazmin |url=https://www.ft.com/content/1dc04520-c2fb-4859-9821-c405f51f8586 |date=3 March 2021 |title=US and Asia allies plan Covid vaccine strategy to counter China |website=Financial Times |access-date=3 March 2021 }}

and that India had urged the other three countries to invest in its vaccine production capacity.{{cite web|url=https://jp.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-india-vaccine/india-seeks-funds-from-quad-alliance-to-match-chinas-vaccine-push-source-idUSKBN2B00PS |first1=Rupam |last1=Jain |first2= David |last2=Brunnstrom |date=8 March 2021 |title=India seeks funds from Quad alliance to match China's vaccine push: source |work=Reuters |access-date=8 March 2021 }}

The next summit meeting  was to be held in person by the end of 2021. In March 2021, the Quad pledged to respond to the economic and health impacts of COVID-19.

File:Secretary Blinken Participates in the Indo-Pacific Quad Meeting (52378856751).jpg

On 15 March 2021, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived at the Yokota Air Base in Tokyo.{{cite news|url=https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210315_34/ |date=15 March 2021 |title=Blinken, Austin arrive in Japan |work=NHK |access-date=15 March 2021 }}

They had contributed to a Washington Post article before their flight.{{cite news |first1=Antony |last1=Blinken |author-link=Antony Blinken |first2=Lloyd |last2=Austin |author2-link=Lloyd Austin |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/03/14/americas-partnerships-are-force-multipliers-world/ |date=15 March 2021 |title=America's partnerships are 'force multipliers' in the world |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=15 March 2021 }}

On 16 March, the two US officials participated in a Security Consultative Committee (SCC), the so-called "two-plus-two", with Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi. Also, the two US officials have met and talked with Prime Minister Suga.{{cite news|date=16 March 2021 |url=https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210316_30/ |title=Japan, US reaffirm alliance at 2-plus-2 meeting |work=NHK |access-date=16 March 2021 }}{{cite news|date=16 March 2021 |url=https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2021/03/6669d017ecd7-update3-japan-us-hold-security-talks-in-response-to-chinas-coercion.html |title=Japan, U.S. express "serious concerns" over China coast guard law |work=Kyodo News |access-date=16 March 2021 }}{{cite news|date=16 March 2021 |url=

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/japan-us-to-share-china-concern-as-ministers-meet-in-tokyo/2021/03/15/0614b772-85f8-11eb-be4a-24b89f616f2c_story.html |title=Japan, US to share China worry as ministers meet in Tokyo|newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=16 March 2021 }}

On 19 March, US Defense Secretary Austin arrived at India, and met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi{{cite web|url=https://www.mea.gov.in/press-releases.htm?dtl/33685/US+Secretary+of+Defense+Lloyd+James+Austin+III+calls+on+Prime+Minister+Shri+Narendra+Modi

|date=19 March 2021 |title=U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd James Austin III calls on Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi |website=Ministry of External Affairs, India |access-date=23 March 2021 }} and Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval. The next day, he discussed with Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.{{cite news|date=20 March 2021 |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-india-vow-to-deepen-defense-ties-11616246056 |author=Rajesh Roy |title=U.S., India Vow to Deepen Defense Ties |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=23 March 2021 }}{{cite web|url=https://www.defense.gov/Explore/News/Article/Article/2544434/india-us-look-at-ways-to-grow-partnership-to-protect-indo-pacific/ |date=20 March 2021 |title=India, U.S. Look at Ways to Grow Partnership to Protect Indo-Pacific |website=DoD, US |access-date=23 March 2021 }}

On 13 April, the foreign and defence ministers of Japan and Germany held the first "two-plus-two" dialogue between the two nations, with each expected to affirm security cooperation in an apparent counter to China's increasing assertiveness in its regional waters.{{cite news|date=13 April 2021 |url=https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2021/04/486142bbc238-japan-germany-to-affirm-security-cooperation-amid-chinas-rise.html |title=Japan, Germany to affirm security cooperation amid China's rise |work=Kyodo News |access-date=13 April 2021 }}

On 16 April, in Washington, D.C., US President Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Suga met and showcased the alliance between their two countries as well as their shared resolve in dealing with China. The US and Japanese governments have been working to strengthen technology supply chains independent of China during a shortage of semiconductors that's worrying businesses around the world. Both countries are expected in coming days to make deeper commitments to cutting climate-wrecking fossil fuel emissions, in line with Biden's climate summit with 40 world leaders next week.{{cite news|date=17 April 2021 |url=https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-yoshihide-suga-xi-jinping-asia-e2ca86750edcc37c18c12bc41299a0e9 |author1=Ellen Knickmeyer|author2=Mari Yamaguchi|author3=Aamer Madhani |title=Japan, US showcase alliance, resolve in dealing with China |work=Associated Press |access-date=17 April 2021 }}{{cite web|url=https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/16/u-s-japan-joint-leaders-statement-u-s-japan-global-partnership-for-a-new-era/ |date=16 April 2021 |title=U.S.- Japan Joint Leaders' Statement: "U.S. – JAPAN GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR A NEW ERA" |website=The White House |access-date=17 April 2021 }}

Suga planned to visit India and the Philippines.{{cite web|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/04/07/national/suga-india-philippines-visit/|date=7 April 2021 |title=Suga planning visits to India and the Philippines from late April|website=The Japan Times |access-date=8 April 2021 }} With India and the US, he also sought to further solidify the Quad framework. Japan and India would hold a "two-plus-two" foreign and defence ministerial meeting in Tokyo in late April, government sources said.{{cite news|url=https://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0007296652 |date=9 April 2021 |title=Japan-India set next 2-plus-2 in Tokyo |work=Yomiuri Shimbun |access-date=10 April 2021 }}

Senior military commanders from Quad member countries, including India's chief of defence staff General Anil Chauhan, were meeting in Rancho Mirage, California on 15–17 May 2023, discussing the Indo-Pacific security.{{Cite web |date=2023-05-13 |title=Quad steps up to security, top commanders to meet in California |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/quad-steps-up-security-top-commanders-to-meet-in-california-101683936115969.html |access-date=2023-05-23 |website=Hindustan Times |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2023-05-17 |title=Top military leaders of Quad nations meet for Indo-Pacific security |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3220796/top-military-leaders-quad-members-us-japan-india-and-australia-meet-indo-pacific-security |access-date=2023-05-23 |website=South China Morning Post |language=en}}

File:P20210924AS-1147-2 (51707173079).jpg, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, U.S. President Joe Biden and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison held the first in-person Quad meeting in Washington, D.C., 2021]]

File:QUAD-Leader's-Meeting-Tokyo2022 1 06.jpg, U.S. President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Tokyo, Japan on 24 May 2022.]]

Since March 2021, member states of the Quad and their leaders have hosted regular “Leaders Summits”, which have been both online and in-person. The summits have aimed to solidify the positions of the Quad and demonstrate the alliances commitment to cooperation.

The first "Quad Leaders Summit" was held virtually on 24 March 2021, hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden. Attending leaders included Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.{{refn|{{PD-notice}}{{cite web|author=

|url=https://mea.gov.in/Speeches-Statements.htm?dtl/33618/Prime+Ministers+opening+remarks+at+the+first+Quadrilateral+Leaders+Virtual+Summit |date=12 March 2021 |title=Prime Minister's opening remarks at the first Quadrilateral Leaders' Virtual Summit |website=Ministry of External Affairs, India |access-date=13 March 2021 }}{{cite web|url=https://www.mofa.go.jp/fp/nsp/page1e_000310.html |date=13 March 2021 |title=Japan-Australia-India-U.S. Leaders' Video Conference |website=Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan |access-date=13 March 2021}}}}

On 24 September 2021, U.S. President Joe Biden hosted the second Quad Leaders Summit, and the first in-person meeting of the group, at the White House in Washington, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga all participating.{{cite web|url=https://www.mea.gov.in/press-releases.htm?dtl/34254/Prime_Ministers_Visit_to_USA_for_Quad_Leaders_Summit_and_UNGA_Highlevel_Segment |date=14 September 2021 |title=Prime Minister's Visit to USA for Quad Leaders' Summit and UNGA High-level Segment |work=Ministry of External Affairs, India |access-date=15 September 2021 }}

On 4 March 2022, the third Quad Leaders Summit was held via video conference, with leaders and representatives of Australia, India, Japan and the United States participating.{{cite web|url=https://www.mofa.go.jp/fp/nsp/page1e_000379.html |date=4 March 2022 |title=Japan-Australia-India-U.S.(Quad) Leaders' Video Conference |website=Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan |access-date=24 May 2021}} During the meeting leaders “reaffirm[ed] their commitment to the Indo-Pacific” and “discussed the ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.”

On 24 May 2022, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida hosted the fourth Quad Leaders Summit and the second in-person meeting in Tokyo, Japan. U.S. President Joe Biden, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and newly elected Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, all attended the meeting. The summit concluded with a joint statement from the leaders that vowed their "steadfast commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific that is inclusive and resilient."{{cite web|url=https://www.kantei.go.jp/quad-leaders-meeting-tokyo2022/index.html

|date=24 May 2022 |title=Quad Leaders Meeting Tokyo 2022t |website=Prime Minister's Official Residence (Japan) |access-date=24 May 2022 }}{{cite web|url=https://www.mofa.go.jp/fp/nsp/page1e_000401.html |date=24 May 2022 |title=Quad Joint Leaders' Statement |website=Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan |access-date=24 May 2022 }}

On 24 May 2023, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was set to host the fifth Quad Leaders Summit in Sydney, with proceedings being held at the Sydney Opera House.{{cite news |author=Stephen Dziedzic |date=24 May 2022 |title=Anthony Albanese pledges climate commitments while meeting with Quad leaders in Tokyo |work=ABC News |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-24/anthony-albanese-joe-biden-quad-meeting-tokyo/101094698 |access-date=26 May 2022}} On 17 May, a week before the scheduled summit, plans were cancelled following an announcement by President Biden that he would not be attending due to domestic negotiations over the debt-limit.{{Cite web |title=Biden cancels trip to Australia over debt ceiling talks, will travel to Japan |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/05/16/biden-might-cancel-trip-to-australia-over-debt-ceiling-negotiations/70224248007/ |access-date=2023-05-17 |website=USA TODAY |language=en-US}} The leaders instead met during the 49th G7 summit held in Japan on 20 May. Although Prime Minister Modi still visited Sydney for a bilateral meeting with Albanese after the summit.{{Cite web |date=2023-05-17 |title=Australia cancels Quad meeting in Sydney after Biden postponement |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/17/australia-pm-says-quad-meeting-will-not-go-ahead-in-sydney-next-week.html |access-date=2023-05-17 |website=CNBC |language=en}}

The 2024 meeting was originally set to be hosted by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and was scheduled to be held in January immediately following Republic Day in India.{{Cite web |last=Mattoo |first=Shashank |date=2023-12-13 |title=Quad meet moved to late 2024 with Biden expected to pass on Republic Day invite |url=https://www.livemint.com/news/world/quad-meet-moved-to-late-2024-with-biden-expected-to-pass-on-republic-day-invite-11702407612323.html |access-date=2024-04-05 |website=mint |language=en}} The meeting was then postponed to September in that year and was hosted by US president Joe Biden in Delaware, United States.{{Cite news |last=Haidar |first=Suhasini |date=2024-02-05 |title=Quad summit more likely after the U.S. elections in November: American envoy Garcetti |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/quad-summit-more-likely-after-the-us-elections-in-november-american-envoy-garcetti/article67815260.ece |access-date=2024-04-05 |work=The Hindu |language=en-IN |issn=0971-751X}} During a visit by Eric Garcetti, the idea of a QUAD satellite, to be built in co-operation between the US and India was mooted.{{Cite web |title=The Ambassador of the United States to India visited ISRO |url=https://www.isro.gov.in/Ambassador_UnitedStates_visited_ISRO.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240524112904/https://www.isro.gov.in/Ambassador_UnitedStates_visited_ISRO.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 May 2024 |access-date=2024-05-27 |website=www.isro.gov.in}} The summit held on 21 September 2024 committed the nations to the Quad Cancer Moonshot Initiative, and to the elimination of cervical cancer.{{Cite web |last1=Murphy |first1=Erin L. |last2=Bliss |first2=Katherine E. |last3=Morrison |first3=J. Stephen |date=22 October 2024 |title=The Quad's Cancer Moonshot Initiative |url=https://www.csis.org/analysis/quads-cancer-moonshot-initiative |access-date=29 January 2025 |website=CSIS.org}}{{Cite news |last=Stolberg |first=Sheryl Gay |date=2024-09-21 |title=Biden Hosts a Final 'Quad Summit' at His Delaware Home |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/21/us/politics/biden-quad-summit.html |access-date=2025-01-29 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

The joint statement of the Quad foreign ministers' meeting on 21 January 2025 affirmed strengthening a free and open Indo-Pacific, and its opposition to "any unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion".{{Cite web |title=Joint Statement by the Quad Foreign Ministers |url=https://www.state.gov/joint-statement-by-the-quad-foreign-ministers/ |access-date=2025-01-23 |website=United States Department of State |language=en}} The statement did not mention the Quad's commitment to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,{{Cite web |date=2025-01-23 |title=Quad joint statement omits reference to Korean Peninsula denuclearization |url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2025/01/103_390969.html |access-date=2025-01-23 |website=The Korea Times |language=en}} signalling the US government's shift to recognize North Korea as nuclear state.{{Cite web |date=2025-01-21 |title=Trump calls North Korea a 'nuclear power,' drawing a rebuke from Seoul |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/trump-calls-north-korea-nuclear-power-drawing-rebuke-seoul-rcna188490 |access-date=2025-01-23 |website=NBC News |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2025-01-15 |title=South Korea says North not a 'nuclear power' following Hegseth's confirmation hearing remarks |url=https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2025-01-15/national/diplomacy/South-Korea-says-North-not-a-nuclear-power-following-Hegseths-confirmation-hearing-remarks/2223015 |access-date=2025-01-23 |website=Korea Joongang Daily |language=en}}

{{Main|Indo-Pacific}}

The four Quad members have played a major role in purposefully redefining the "Asia-Pacific" as the "Indo-Pacific", to deepen trans-regional ties between the Indian and Pacific Ocean areas, and to, in their words, deal more effectively with the rise of China in Asia, the Middle East and Africa. The term "Indo-Pacific" gained traction in the political lexicon and strategic thinking of not only the Quad members, but as of recently also of ASEAN,{{cite web|url=http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/wps/portal/rielcano_en/contenido?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/elcano/elcano_in/zonas_in/asia-pacific/ari29-2021-wacker-europe-and-the-indo-pacific-comparing-france-germany-and-the-netherlands|date=9 March 2021|title=Europe and the Indo-Pacific: comparing France, Germany and the Netherlands|author=Gudrun Wacker|website=Elcano Royal Institute|access-date=9 April 2021}} the European Union, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the Netherlands, used mainly with regards to China.

At the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore in June 2018, French and British defence ministers announced they would sail warships through the South China Sea to challenge China's military expansion.{{cite web|url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2149062/france-britain-sail-warships-contested-south-china-sea|date=4 June 2018|title=France, Britain to sail warships in contested South China Sea to challenge Beijing|website=South China Morning Post|access-date=3 April 2021}} In a similar move, on 16 September 2020, France, the UK and Germany together submitted a note verbale to the United Nations, which reaffirmed that the integrity of UNCLOS needs to be maintained, stating that China's territorial claims in the South China Sea do not comply with it.{{cite web|url=https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/09/17/20/france-germany-uk-reject-chinas-sweeping-claims-in-south-china-sea-in-joint-note-verbale/|date=17 September 2020 |title=France, Germany, UK reject China's sweeping claims in South China Sea in joint note verbale|website=ABS-CBN|access-date=19 March 2021}}

On 20 January 2021, Joe Biden became the president of the United States, and two days later, US and Japanese top security officials discussed security issues.{{cite web|url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/Team-Biden-assures-Japan-that-Senkakus-fall-under-security-treaty |first1=Masaya |last1=Kato |first2= Shoei |last2=Kanata |date=22 January 2021 |title=Team Biden assures Japan that Senkakus fall under security treaty |website=Nikkei Asia |access-date=22 March 2021 }} Three days after that, the Japanese Foreign Minister, Toshimitsu Motegi, attended the EU Foreign Affairs Council to promote cooperation between Japan and the EU in the Indo-Pacific.{{cite web|url=https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2021/01/35e852962efc-japan-minister-motegi-to-take-part-in-eu-foreign-chiefs-meeting.html |date=20 January 2021 |title=Japan's Foreign Minister Motegi to take part in EU foreign chiefs' meeting |agency=Kyodo News |access-date=18 February 2021 }}{{cite web|url=https://www.mofa.go.jp/press/release/press1e_000168.html |date=25 January 2021 |title=Foreign Minister Motegi's attendance at the EU Foreign Affairs Council (virtual format) |website=Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan |access-date=18 February 2021}} On 18 February, during the third ministerial meeting,{{cite web|url=https://www.foreignminister.gov.au/minister/marise-payne/media-release/quad-foreign-ministers-meeting |date=19 February 2021 |title=Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting |website=Minister for Foreign Affairs, Australia |access-date=19 February 2021 }}{{cite web|url=https://mea.gov.in/press-releases.htm?dtl/33540/3rd_IndiaAustraliaJapanUSA_Quad_Ministerial_Meeting |date=18 February 2021 |title=3rd India-Australia-Japan-USA Quad Ministerial Meeting |website=Ministry of External Affairs, India |access-date=19 February 2021 }}{{cite web|url=https://www.mofa.go.jp/press/release/press3e_000172.html |date=18 February 2021 |title=Japan-Australia-India-U.S. Foreign Ministers' Telephone Meeting |website=Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan |access-date=5 March 2021}}{{cite web|url=https://www.state.gov/secretary-blinkens-call-with-quad-ministers/ |date=18 February 2021 |title=Secretary Blinken's Call with Quad Ministers |website=United States Department of State |access-date=19 February 2021 }} the United States, Australia, Japan and India agreed to strongly oppose any use of force by China,{{cite web|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/02/19/national/quad-nations-china-indo-pacific/ |date=19 February 2021 |title=Quad nations oppose China's attempts to alter status quo by force |website=The Japan Times |access-date=19 February 2021 }} and vowed to work with ASEAN and Europe to meet their aims.{{cite web|url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/Indo-Pacific/Quad-vows-to-work-with-ASEAN-and-Europe-in-first-Biden-era-meeting |date=19 February 2021 |title=Quad vows to work with ASEAN and Europe in first Biden-era meeting |website=Nikkei Shinbun |access-date=19 February 2021 }}{{cite web|url=https://www.mofa.go.jp/a_o/ocn/au/page6e_000231.html |date=25 February 2021 |title=Japan-Australia Summit Telephone Talk |website=Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan |access-date=8 March 2021 }}

While Canada has not published an Indo-Pacific strategy, it started increasing its naval presence in the region in 2020. In June 2020, Canadian frigate HMCS Regina and auxiliary vessel MV Asterix sailed through the Taiwan Strait.{{cite web|url=https://www.stripes.com/news/canada-becomes-latest-nation-to-sail-warships-through-taiwan-strait-1.586783|date=31 March 2021 |title=Canada becomes latest nation to sail warships through Taiwan Strait|website=Stars and Stripes |access-date=3 April 2021}} In January 2021, HMCS Winnipeg did the same and later joined the navies of the Quad members in the naval exercise Sea Dragon, according to a Canadian official "to demonstrate the strength and durability of our alliances in the Indo-Pacific region".{{cite web|url=https://www.voanews.com/a/east-asia-pacific_voa-news-china_western-countries-send-ships-south-china-sea-pushback-against/6202367.html|title=Western Countries Send Ships to South China Sea in Pushback Against Beijing|website=Voice of America |date=22 February 2021 |access-date=9 March 2021}}{{cite web|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/canada-to-join-quad-joint-naval-exercise-in-pacific-ocean-101611556512917.html|title=Canada joins Quad joint naval exercise in Pacific Ocean|website=Hindustan Times|date= 25 January 2021|access-date=10 April 2021}} In late March, the Canadian frigate HMCS Calgary passed near the Spratly Islands, which China claims.{{cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/hmcs-calgary-china-sea-transit-1.5972098|date=31 March 2021 |title=Canadian warship transits South China Sea as diplomatic tensions remain high |website=CBC News |access-date=3 April 2021}}

The first Quad summit, held in March 2021, explored a partnership with Europe. France, Germany, and the Netherlands have announced their Indo-Pacific visions, and the EU is in the midst of formulating its own.{{cite web|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/india-us-japan-australia-quadrilateral-initiative-explores-partnership-with-eu/articleshow/81504113.cms|date=15 March 2021 |title=India-US-Japan-Australia Quadrilateral initiative explores partnership with EU|website=The Economic Times |access-date=10 April 2021}}

According to Brendan Berne, then the Australian ambassador to France, French president Macron said, when they met in late 2017 that "he was aware of the threat situation in the Indo-Pacific and that Australia would not be alone".{{cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/408e1244-bc27-47f2-bdfc-20bf328e4114|title=Europe pivots to Indo-Pacific with 'multipolar' ambitions|work=Financial Times|date=9 February 2021|access-date=16 April 2021}}. Six months later, in June 2018, the same month as the 2018 Shangri-La Dialogue, France, with 1.6 million of its citizens living and over 90% of its exclusive economic zone located in the Indo-Pacific region, was the first EU member to publish an Indo-Pacific strategy, following increased Chinese assertiveness in the region, and updated it in May 2019.{{cite web|url=https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2019/12/12/frances-indo-pacific-strategy-inclusive-and-principled/|date=12 December 2019|title=France's Indo-Pacific strategy: inclusive and principled|website=East Asia Forum|access-date=9 April 2021}} It was also the first EU member to use the geopolitical concept of the Indo-Pacific. Partnerships with all four members of the Quad as well as with ASEAN are a key component of France's Indo-Pacific strategy.{{cite web|url=https://www.ifri.org/en/publications/publications-ifri/articles-ifri/frances-indo-pacific-strategy-and-quad-plus|date=9 February 2021|title=France's Indo-Pacific Strategy and the Quad Plus|author=Céline Pajon|website=Institut français des relations internationales|access-date=9 April 2021}} As part of this strategic shift, French frigate Vendémiaire sailed through the Taiwan Strait in 2018, possibly the first-ever such passage for the modern French Navy, and was seen as a freedom of navigation patrol, countering China's claim over the Strait.{{cite web|url=https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/29515/europe-can-help-prevent-a-taiwan-war|title=Europe Can Play a Role in a Conflict Over Taiwan. Will It?|publisher=World Politics Review|date=23 March 2021|access-date=12 April 2021}}{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-taiwan-france-warship-china-exclusive-idUSKCN1S10Q7|title=Exclusive: In rare move, French warship passes through Taiwan Strait|work=Reuters|date=25 April 2019|access-date=13 April 2021}}

On 9 September 2020, France, India and Australia held their first India-France-Australia Trilateral Dialogue, with their foreign secretaries meeting through videoconference.{{cite web|url=https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/country-files/australia/news/article/the-indo-pacific-1st-trilateral-dialogue-between-france-india-and-australia-9|date=9 September 2020 |title=The Indo-Pacific: 1st Trilateral Dialogue between France, India and Australia|website=Ministry of Foreign Affairs, France|access-date=9 April 2021}} In December 2020, France also revealed it would join for the first time the joint military drills with Japan and the US in May 2021.{{cite web|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/12/06/national/japan-france-us-military-drills/ |date=6 December 2020 |title=Japan, France and U.S. plan their first joint military drills for May

|website=The Japan Times |access-date=16 February 2021 }} On 10 February 2021, the French submarine Emeraude patrolled through the South China Sea, proving its capacity to deploy over long distances and work together with the navies of Australia, the US, and Japan.{{cite web|url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/Indo-Pacific/French-nuclear-sub-prowls-South-China-Sea|date=10 February 2021 |title=INDO-PACIFIC: French nuclear sub prowls South China Sea |website=Nikkei Shinbun |access-date=15 February 2021}} On 24 February 2021, a second India-France-Australia Trilateral Dialogue meeting was held, to evaluate progress on the actions defined in the first trilateral meeting in September.{{cite web|url=https://www.mea.gov.in/press-releases.htm?dtl/33564/Senior+Officials+IndiaFranceAustralia+Trilateral+Dialogue|date=24 February 2021|title=Senior Officials' India-France-Australia Trilateral Dialogue|website=Ministry of External Affairs, India|access-date=7 April 2021}} On 30 March 2021, French Navy’s amphibious assault helicopter carrier Tonnerre and escort frigate Surcouf arrived at the Kochi port in Kerala, India, ahead of a joint naval exercise with the four Quad member countries.{{cite news|url=https://frontline.thehindu.com/dispatches/french-warships-arrive-in-kochi-ahead-of-joint-naval-exercise-with-quad-member-countries-in-the-bay-of-bengal-from-april-5-to-7/article34199906.ece|date=30 March 2021|title=French warships arrive in Kochi ahead of joint naval exercise with Quad member countries in the Bay of Bengal from April 5 to 7|access-date=30 March 2021|work=The Hindu}} The French naval drill exercise called La Perouse was scheduled to take place from 5 to 7 April 2021. South China Morning Post reported this as the first instance of naval exercises to involve all four Quad members.{{Cite web|date=4 April 2021|title=Does French-led naval drill reveal clues about Quad's plan to contain China?|url=https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3128236/india-joins-french-led-naval-exercise-revealing-clues-about|access-date=11 April 2021|website=South China Morning Post|language=en}} In late April, India and France held their separate annual Varuna naval exercise.{{cite news|url=https://www.financialexpress.com/defence/naval-exercise-varuna-quad-nations-to-join-for-war-drills-with-the-french-navy/2220392/|title=For the first time India and Quad nations to join France for war games|author=Huma Siddiqui|work=The Financial Express|date=25 March 2021|access-date=12 April 2021}} The two French warships were on a five-month-long deployment in the Indo-Pacific. On 13 April 2021, a third India-France-Australia Trilateral Dialogue meeting took place in New Delhi.{{cite news|date=6 April 2021 |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/opinions/2021/apr/06/france-and-sailing-toward-the-quad-plus-2286408.html|title=France sailing toward the 'Quad-plus'|work=The New Indian Express|access-date=9 April 2021}}

On 1 September 2020, the German government followed, releasing a policy document in which the country for the first time officially endorsed the concept of the Indo-Pacific, and among others includes actively building partnerships in the region, including on security matters, calling on the EU to do the same.{{cite web|url=https://www.eias.org/news/risk-diversification-germany-joins-the-indo-pacific-policy-arena/|date=10 November 2020|title=Risk Diversification: Germany Joins the Indo-Pacific Policy Arena|author=Caroline Tang|website=European Institute for Asian Studies|access-date=9 April 2021}} In December 2020, in an online meeting between Japan's and Germany's defence ministers, Japan expressed hopes for Germany to send a warship to the Indo-Pacific region, and join drills with Japan Self-Defense Forces,{{cite web|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/12/16/national/japan-german-warship-dispatch/ |date=16 December 2020 |title=Japan strongly supports German warship dispatch plan |website=The Japan Times |access-date=16 February 2021 }} In March 2021, Germany confirmed that it would send a frigate in August to the South China Sea,{{cite web|url=https://www.voanews.com/a/east-asia-pacific_us-hails-german-warship-plan-sail-south-china-sea/6202863.html|date=4 March 2021|title=US Hails German Warship Plan to Sail South China Sea|publisher=Voice of America|access-date=9 March 2021}} making it the first German warship since 2002 to traverse the region.{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-germany-china-frigate-idUKKCN2AU2B9 |date=3 March 2021 |title=German warship to sail through South China Sea, officials say |work=Reuters |access-date=20 March 2021 }} In mid-April 2021, the foreign and defence ministers of Japan and Germany would meet via videoconference to discuss Indo-Pacific security topics.{{cite news|date=5 April 2021 |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-germany-diplomacy-idUSKBN2BR0RI |title=Japan and Germany to hold first '2 plus 2' dialogue talks in April - Yomiuri |work=Reuters |access-date=8 April 2021 }}

Mirroring the India-France-Australia Trilateral, an India-Italy-Japan Trilateral was formed in June 2021, aiming to create a rules-based international order in the Indo-Pacific region.{{cite news|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/india-launches-new-trilateral-with-italy-and-japan-for-indo-pacific-stability/articleshow/83624187.cms|date=18 June 2021|title=India launches new trilateral with Italy and Japan for Indo-Pacific stability|work=The Economic Times|access-date=19 June 2021}}

In November 2020, the Netherlands published its Indo-Pacific strategy, making it the third EU member to do so, following France and Germany.{{cite web|url=https://thediplomat.com/2020/11/following-france-and-germany-the-netherlands-pivots-to-the-indo-pacific/|date=18 November 2020|title=Following France and Germany, the Netherlands Pivots to the Indo-Pacific|website=The Diplomat|author=Sebastian Strangio|access-date=9 April 2021}} The policy document calls on the EU to build partnerships in the region and to reject Chinese territorial claims more strongly. As part of this policy shift, the Netherlands would send the frigate HNLMS Evertsen to the Indo-Pacific as part of the British aircraft carrier group in 2021.{{cite web|url=https://www.navyrecognition.com/index.php/news/defence-news/2021/april/9917-hnlms-evertsen-will-join-the-uk-carrier-strike-group.html|date=1 April 2021|title=HNLMS Evertsen will join the UK Carrier Strike Group|website=Navy Recognition |access-date=3 April 2021}} In April 2021, Dutch prime minister Rutte and Indian prime minister Modi held a videoconference meeting to discuss cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region.{{cite web|url=https://www.aninews.in/news/world/europe/dutch-pm-rutte-says-india-is-going-to-have-critical-role-in-any-indo-pacific-strategy20210409204950/|date=9 April 2021|title=Dutch PM Rutte says India is going to have critical role in any Indo-Pacific strategy|website=Asian News International|access-date=9 April 2021}}

In 2016 the UK moved a satellite in its Skynet military communications system eastward to extend coverage to east Asia and the western Pacific Ocean, and opened a new Australian ground station. At the opening ceremony the British High Commissioner referred to the territorial disputes in the South China Sea.{{cite news|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-16/skynet-satellite-ground-station-opens-in-adelaide/7419042|title=Skynet satellite ground station opens in Adelaide to aid UK military communications|last=MacLennan|first=Leah|work=ABC News Australia|date=16 May 2016|access-date=20 February 2021}}

In December 2020, the UK announced it would dispatch an aircraft carrier strike group to waters near Japan as soon as early 2021, to conduct joint exercises with US military and Japan Self-Defense Forces in May.{{cite web|url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/Indo-Pacific/UK-to-send-aircraft-carrier-strike-group-to-waters-near-Japan |date=6 December 2020 |title=Indo-Pacific: UK to send aircraft carrier strike group to waters near Japan |website=Nikkei Shinbun |access-date=15 February 2021 }}{{cite web|url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/UK-carrier-to-hold-naval-drills-with-Japan-in-Asian-waters |date=4 February 2021 |title=UK carrier to hold naval drills with Japan in Asian waters |website=Nikkei Shinbun |access-date=15 February 2021 }}{{cite web|url=https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/australian-navy-to-join-uk-carrier-in-regional-show-of-strength-20210210-p57150|date=11 February 2021|title=Australian navy to join UK carrier in regional show of strength|website=Australian Financial Review|access-date=9 March 2021}} The strike group would consist of: the carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth (R08) with an embarked air group (consisting of 24 F-35 aircraft from No. 617 Squadron RAF and Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 211, along with 9 Merlin helicopters and a number of Wildcat helicopters); two Type 45 destroyers; two Type 23 frigates; two Royal Fleet Auxiliary logistics vessels; an Astute-class submarine; the American destroyer USS The Sullivans, and the Dutch frigate HNLMS Evertsen.{{cite news|url=https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/british-flagship-getting-sea-legs-back/|title=British flagship 'getting sea legs back'|work=UK Defence Journal|date=4 March 2021|access-date=4 March 2021}}{{cite news|url=https://news.usni.org/2021/01/19/u-s-u-k-sign-agreement-on-upcoming-deployment-of-hms-queen-elizabeth-with-american-f-35bs-destroyer|title=U.S., U.K. Sign Agreement on Upcoming Deployment of HMS Queen Elizabeth with American F-35Bs, Destroyer|work=USNI News|date=19 January 2021|access-date=4 March 2021}}{{cite news|url=https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/australian-navy-to-join-uk-carrier-in-regional-show-of-strength-20210210-p57150|title=Australian navy to join UK carrier in regional show of strength|date=11 February 2021|publisher=The Financial Review|access-date=4 March 2021}}{{cite web|website=Navies Worldwide|url=https://naviesworldwide.com/navy-news/hnlms-evertsen-to-join-uk-taskgroup-to-japan/|title=HNMLS Evertsen to join UK taskgroup to Japan|date=22 March 2021|access-date=30 March 2021}} Once it set sail, the strike group would also be joined by "at least a frigate" of the Royal Australian Navy, HMNZS Te Kaha and HMNZS Aotearoa from the Royal New Zealand Navy,{{cite web|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/125013434/new-zealand-navy-will-join-british-flotilla-on-tour-through-east-asia-defence-minister-says|title=New Zealand navy will join British flotilla on tour through East Asia|publisher=Stuff News|date=4 May 2021|access-date=4 May 2021}} and a number of vessels from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force,{{cite web|url=https://news.usni.org/2021/02/03/carrier-hms-queen-elizabeth-will-drill-with-japanese-in-pacific-during-deployment|title=Carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth Will Drill with Japanese in Pacific During Deployment|publisher=USNI News|date=3 February 2021|access-date=4 March 2021}} before it was reported that it would enter the South China Sea.{{cite news|url=https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/defence/the-royal-navys-hms-queen-elizabeth-faces-high-risk-of-incidents-as-tensions-flare-up-in-south-china-sea-3148103|title=The Royal Navy's HMS Queen Elizabeth faces high risk of 'incidents' as tensions flare up in South China Sea|work=Portsmouth's The News|date=26 February 2021|access-date=4 March 2021}}

In March 2021, the UK published a policy document titled the "Integrated Review" which confirmed the UK's foreign policy shift towards the Indo-Pacific and included a nine-step plan detailing what this shift entails.{{cite web|url=https://thediplomat.com/2021/03/three-indo-pacific-takeaways-from-the-uk-integrated-review/|title=3 Indo-Pacific Takeaways From the UK 'Integrated Review|publisher=The Diplomat|author=Abhijnan Rej|date=17 March 2021|access-date=10 April 2021}} The document acknowledged that trade between the UK and China was mutually beneficial, yet it also named China as "the biggest state-based threat to the U.K.’s economic security" and called on middle powers to work together in this new geopolitical context. Britain's "Indo-Pacific tilt" is exemplified in projects such as AUKUS, CPTPP, and GCAP.{{cite news|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/04/11/uk-britain-tilt-indo-pacific-asia-strategy-review-aukus-cptpp-geopolitics/|title=Britain's Surprisingly Enduring Tilt to Asia|work=Foreign Policy|date=11 April 2023}}

According to the American think tank Center for a New American Security (CNAS), the United States pursued the Quad in an effort to adapt to an increasingly economically powerful China in the Asia-Pacific, where great power rivalry, massive military investment, social inequality, and contemporary territorial disputes have all made war in Asia "plausible." According to the CNAS, establishing a series of alliances among nations recognized as democratic by the United States furthers its own interests: "It is precisely because of the rise of Chinese power and the longer term trend towards multipolarity in the international system that values can and should serve as a tool of American statecraft today."

Prominent U.S. politicians from both Democratic and Republican parties have advocated a more aggressive diplomacy in Asia. During the 2008 US presidential campaign, President Obama called for a new worldwide concert of democracies to counter the influence of Russia and China in the UN Security Council; key officials of Obama's administration were involved in the Princeton Project, whose final report called for the construction of a new "concert of democracies". Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s Policy Planning Director at the State Department, Anne-Marie Slaughter, authored the Princeton Project’s final report, which "called for reconstituting the quadrilateral military partnership among the United States, Japan, Australia and India". John McCain also called for a "league of democracies", and Rudy Giuliani for incorporating Asia's militarily capable democracies into NATO. The development of the Quad took place in the context of Chinese military modernization, geared towards contingency in Taiwan Strait but also towards "force projection capabilities". Some US officials view Chinese assertiveness in South China Sea as demonstrated by the naval confrontation between the USNS Impeccable and Chinese naval vessels near Hainan Island.Brooks, L., Busby, J. W., Denmark, A. M., Ford, L., Green, M. J., Ikenberry, G. J., Kaplan, R. D., Patel, N., Twining, D., and R. Weitz, 2009. [http://www.cnas.org/files/documents/publications/CNAS%20China's%20Arrival_Final%20Report.pdf "China’s Arrival: A Strategic Framework for a Global Relationship"]. Eds. Abraham Denmark and Nirav Patel, Center for a New American Security.

According to academic Jeremy Garlick, publishing in early 2024, the Quad had not yet achieved much in practice.{{Cite book |last=Garlick |first=Jeremy |title=Advantage China: Agent of Change in an Era of Global Disruption |date=2024 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-1-350-25231-8}}{{Rp|page=109}} Academic Jeffrey Crean concludes that as of 2024, the Quad had yet to find common ground or a coherent strategic approach.{{Cite book |last=Crean |first=Jeffrey |title=The Fear of Chinese Power: an International History |date=2024 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-1-350-23394-2 |edition= |series=New Approaches to International History series |location=London, UK |pages=}}{{Rp|page=172}} Crean writes that while Quad members have various conflicts with China, those conflicts arise in significantly different areas or with regard to different issues and this has been an obstacle to unified action.{{Rp|page=172}}

{{div col}}

• Andaman and Nicobar Command
• Anti-Chinese sentiment
• Chinese espionage in the United States
• Chinese salami slicing strategy
• East Asia island arcs (China containment policy)
• I2U2 Group (West Quad)
• Pax Americana
• Post–Cold War era
• Sea lines of communication
• String of Pearls
• Territorial disputes in the South China Sea
• United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission
• Vaccine diplomacy
• Wolf warrior diplomacy

;International groupings

• ANZUS
• AUKUS
• Blue Dot Network
• D-10 Strategy Forum
• Eight-Nation Alliance
• Five Eyes
• Five Power Defence Arrangements
• Group of 3 (G3)
• Group of Seven (G7)
• Partners in the Blue Pacific
• The Clean Network

;International relations

• Australia–India relations
• Australia–Japan relations
• Australia–United States relations
• India–Japan relations
• India–United States relations
• Japan–United States relations
• U.S.–China Strategic and Economic Dialogue

;Military exercises

• Balikatan (Philippines–U.S.)
• Malabar (India–U.S.)
• Talisman Saber (Australia–U.S.)
• Varuna (France–India)

{{div col end}}

{{Notelist}}

{{reflist}}

• [https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF11678 The “Quad”: Cooperation Among the United States, Japan, India, and Australia] The Congressional Research Service (CRS), 2023
• [https://www.gmfus.org/news/future-quad-and-emerging-architecture-indo-pacific The Future of the Quad and the Emerging Architecture in the Indo-Pacific] German Marshall Fund, 2022

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