Top military leaders from US, Japan, India and Australia take part in Quad meeting for Indo-Pacific security
- Faced with increasingly assertive China, Washington-led alliance poised to deepen security and defence cooperation in region
- Three-day meeting in California hosted by US Indo-Pacific commander suggests strategic turn for once informal group
Top military commanders from the four Quad member nations are meeting in Rancho Mirage, California, from Monday to Wednesday to discuss Indo-Pacific security.
The first session on Monday focused on deterrence through effective partnerships, according to India’s national broadcaster. Earlier, the Quad navies agreed to schedule war games off the coast of Sydney, Australia, in August.
Indian news publication The Hindustan Times called the high-profile, defence-level Quad dialogue a “game changer”. It said the meeting was “a clear indication that the grouping is now taking security cooperation to the next level”.
But Nilanthi Samaranayake, an adjunct fellow at the East-West Centre in Washington, said that even “non-traditional security challenges such as natural disasters confront the Indo-Pacific and sometimes require military response to deliver relief”.
She described the meeting as a “good opportunity for the officials in attendance to gain informal insights into some of the topics seen in the outcomes of the March ministerial meeting”, including the Quad humanitarian assistance and disaster relief partnership.
“It’s worth noting the origins of the Quad are based in the diplomatic and operational coordination,” Samaranayake added.
While the Biden administration has trod carefully in defining the group’s goals, asserting its aim is “maintaining peace and stability” in region, China has criticised the Quad as a “small clique” that is “bent on provoking confrontation”.
In Sydney, Quad leaders are expected to focus on bolstering cooperation against China’s growing influence and presence in the Indo-Pacific region.
Hugh Tuckfield of the Indo-Pacific Studies Centre, a think tank, said the group’s recent activities send a “clear message to China that the Quad is not a mere talk shop, but a serious and credible grouping that can act collectively to uphold the rules-based order and deter aggression in the Indo-Pacific”.
However, ongoing partisan bickering in Washington over slashing federal spending could hinder American efforts to counter China in the region.
In testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the Biden administration’s budget proposal would “allow us to further deepen our diplomatic footprint in the Indo-Pacific”.
That commitment, he added, would range “from new missions in the Pacific islands to a surge of new positions in the region and beyond, including in the areas of greatest contestation with Beijing”.
