New Delhi: Seeking to inject fresh momentum into the grouping, the Quad on Tuesday announced energy security and critical minerals frameworks to mitigate supply chain disruptions and unveiled major measures to upgrade maritime surveillance and port infrastructure across the Indo-Pacific, even as clarity remained elusive on the timing of the next summit of the grouping.
While all measures except the energy security initiative are widely viewed as efforts to counter China’s expanding Indo-Pacific footprint, the Quad explicitly voiced serious concerns over the situation in the East and South China Sea and denounced “coercion” threatening regional peace and stability.
The new steps to address pressing challenges were announced following a meeting of the grouping’s foreign ministers in New Delhi, chaired by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and attended by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi.
The foreign ministers called for an uninterrupted flow of global commerce through the Strait of Hormuz and criticised the imposition of tolls on commercial shipping in the region, while seeking a peaceful resolution of the West Asia crisis.
“We reaffirm our commitment to defending the rule of law, sovereignty, and territorial integrity. We recognise the immense potential of innovation, emerging technologies, and trusted partnerships to drive economic prosperity across the Indo-Pacific and beyond,” the Quad foreign ministers said in a joint statement.
On the situation in the East China and South China seas, the ministers expressed serious concerns regarding “dangerous and coercive actions”, including interference with offshore resource development and the “dangerous manoeuvres” by military aircraft, coast guard and maritime militia vessels.
External Affairs Minister Jaishankar, in his media statement, said a free and open Indo-Pacific has many dimensions and facets. “Our meeting today took stock of the progress in many of them, while encouraging exploration in others,” he said.
“In the coming days, whether it is economic activity, energy trade or maritime commerce, the Indo- Pacific will become even more important to the world. The responsibilities of the Quad will grow commensurately, and we must prepare for that,” he said.
The Quad announced plans to work with Fiji to advance that country’s port infrastructure under the grouping’s plans to enhance maritime facilities in the Indo-Pacific region.
Under the Indo-Pacific energy security framework, the Quad plans to counter supply disruptions through strategic fuel reserves, targeted policy initiatives and coordinated emergency response mechanisms.
The new initiative comes amid increasing global concerns over disruptions in energy supply chains in view of the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz through which around a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) usually passes.
As part of the critical minerals cooperation framework, the Quad pledged up to USD 20 billion in public and private capital to bolster supply chains while voicing “grave concerns” over “economic coercion”, widely seen as a reference to China’s export control regime in the sector.
Critical minerals are considered vital for high-end technology products, including electric vehicles (EVs), drones, and battery storage.
China accounts for around 70 per cent of global rare earth mining, making it a very dominant player in the global supply chain of the critical minerals.
“We reiterate our grave concerns over the use of economic coercion and non-market policies and practices, including arbitrary export restrictions, price manipulation and disruptions particularly on critical minerals that impact global supply chains and critical industrial sectors,” the joint statement said.
“We underscore the importance of diversified and reliable global supply chains and the need to avoid reliance on any one country,” it said in an oblique reference to China.
The Quad will also enhance maritime surveillance, especially in the Indian Ocean region under a new framework.
Interestingly, there was no clarity on when the next Quad summit will take place. As the current chair of the grouping, it is India’s turn to host it.
A senior diplomat from one of the Quad nations said there is no decision yet on the issue.
The Quad foreign ministers also unequivocally condemned terrorism in all its forms, including cross-border terrorism, the “horrific” Pahalgam terror attack and the Bondi Beach strike in Australia.
“We call for decisive and sustained international efforts to combat terrorism in accordance with international law, including action against globally proscribed terrorists and terror entities and their proxies, affiliates, sponsors and financiers,” the joint statement added.
In his media statement, US Secretary of State Rubio said the Quad meeting decided to launch an Indo-Pacific Maritime Surveillance Cooperation Initiative.
“It will leverage each of our country’s maritime surveillance capabilities in the Indo-Pacific,” he said.
Rubio also announced the expansion of the Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness Initiative among the Quad nations.
The US Secretary of State said that the Quad has decided to roll out a new initiative to boost port infrastructure in the Pacific Islands.
“The reason why maritime security is so important, beyond the fact that current events remind us of what can happen when maritime security is impeded, is the fact that 60 per cent of global maritime trade passes through the Indo-Pacific,” Rubio said.
He argued that it is a vital national interest not just to the four Quad countries, but to countless countries around the world.
“The second initiative: we’re going to be partnering on issues of port infrastructure, in response to insufficient port capacities in the Pacific Islands,” he said.
“We’re announcing plans to work with Fiji to advance that country’s port infrastructure. It’ll be the first time that the Quad partners work together on a port infrastructure project,” he said.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the Quad recognised efforts towards a diplomatic resolution to ensure freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.
“We recognise the importance of maintaining the principle of freedom of navigation and our opposition to any tolling proposition,” she said, referring to Iran’s plan to demand fees for transiting the Strait.
“The Quad is today taking forward a number of new initiatives, an energy security initiative, and, of course, our continued work on critical minerals, because we understand that secure and reliable supply chains are a precondition to economic and strategic stability,” she said.
“We are also today announcing the strongest ever commitment from the Quad to the Pacific through the Quad Ports of the Future Partnership, where we are launching a pilot for port infrastructure in Fiji,” she added.
At a media briefing, Additional Secretary (Americas) in the Ministry of External Affairs, Nagaraj Naidu, said the Quad is an “action-oriented platform” and that cooperation under it is going to expand.
