CONCEPT – QUADRILATERAL SECURITY DIALOLGUE

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 CONCEPT – QUADRILATERAL SECURITY DIALOLGUE

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• What it is : The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QSD, or Quad) is an informal strategic dialogue between the United States, Japan, Australia and India. 
• When did it begin : The dialogue was initiated in 2007 by PM Shinzo Abe of Japan, with the support of US, PM John Howard of Australia and PM Manmohan Singh of India. The dialogue was paralleled by joint military exercises of an unprecedented scale, titled Exercise Malabar. 
• To counter China : The diplomatic and military arrangement was viewed as a response to increased Chinese economic and military power, and the Chinese government responded by diplomatic protests.
• Resurgent Quad : After a lull, during the 2017 ASEAN Summits all four rejoined in negotiations to revive the quadrilateral alliance. PM Malcolm Turnbull of Australia, PM Shinzo Abe of Japan, PM Narendra Modi of India, and President Donald Trump of US agreeing in Manila to revive the security pact among tensions in the South China Sea caused primarily by China and its territorial ambitions.
• Fragile : The fate of the Quad is still fragile. The first attempt at the Quad had died because then-Australian PM Kevin Rudd withdrew over concerns that the Quad needlessly antagonized China. Today, following a burst of concern about Chinese influence, Australia is in. So are the United States and Japan. What about India? 
• India – China post Wuhan : India seemed less enthusiastic about the Quad following the Wuhan summit, a piece of deft Chinese diplomacy. Bilateral relations had reached a nadir in 2017 primarily due to the military standoff at Doklam. 
• Australia in Malabar Exercise : Shortly after Wuhan, India decided to reject fellow Quad member Australia’s request to participate in Malabar military exercises along with the US  and Japan. This was the fourth year in a row India had rejected Australia’s participation. Bringing Australia into Malabar for the first time would have sent a clear message that the naval component was active and that the Quad was unified. 
• Shagri-la dialogue : PM Modi gave the keynote address, and spoke of the need to ensure a peaceful and stable Indo-Pacific region, matching Quad objectives, but declined the opportunity to invoke the Quad and instead noted that “India does not see the Indo-Pacific Region as a strategy or as a club of limited members.” This, when U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis’s speech heavily criticized Chinese actions.
• Qingdao Declaration : At the SCO summit New Delhi signed onto the Qingdao Declaration, which noted that “economic globalisation is confronted with the expansion of unilateral protectionist policies.” The Trump administration’s ongoing trade frictions with multiple countries, including both China and India, made it relevant. New Delhi may find it convenient to use bilateral trade as a crutch and “insurance policy” against Washington, should it need to do so. If true, Beijing would probably insist on India first leaving the Quad to fully benefit from this.

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