Rama Krishna Sangem
New US president whoever takes over on Jan 20, 2025 will tour India a few months later for the Quad summit in Delhi. Though the dates have not yet been finalized, Quad summit is likely to be held between July and August. Quad, a group of four countries – the US, Japan, Australia and India – will have rotational leadership. India has taken over the leader of Quad, after the current summit that just was held in Wilmington, Delaware, the US on September 21.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated in the sixth Quad Leaders’ Summit in Wilmington, Delaware on 21 September 2024, hosted by the President of the United States of America Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese and Prime Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida also participated,” said a press release from the Indian external affairs ministry.
In his address, Prime Minister thanked President Biden for hosting the Summit and for his personal commitment to strengthen the Quad as a force for global good. Prime Minister stated that at a time when the world is ridden with tensions and conflicts, the coming together of Quad partners, with shared democratic ethos and values, is important for humanity.
Force for global good
Reiterating that the Quad remains to be a “force for global good,” the Leaders made the following announcements to address the development priorities of the Indo-Pacific region and of the global community as a whole:
“Quad Cancer Moonshot”, a groundbreaking partnership to save lives in the Indo-Pacific region by combating cervical cancer.
“Maritime Initiative for Training in the Indo-Pacific” (MAITRI) to enable Indo-Pacific partners to maximize tools provided through IPMDA and other Quad initiatives.
First-ever “Quad-at-Sea Ship Observer Mission” in 2025 to improve interoperability and advance maritime safety.
Quad Ports of the Future Partnership” which will harness the Quad’s collective expertise to support sustainable and resilient port infrastructure development across the Indo-Pacific.
“Quad Principles for Development and Deployment of Digital Public Infrastructure” in the region and beyond.
A “Semiconductor Supply Chains Contingency Network Memorandum of Cooperation” to enhance resilience of Quad’s semiconductor supply chains.
Collective Quad effort to boost energy efficiency, including deployment and manufacturing of high-efficiency affordable cooling systems in the Indo-Pacific region.
India’s establishment of a space-based web portal for Mauritius, to support the concept of open science for space-based monitoring of extreme weather events and climate impact.
A new sub-category under the Quad STEM Fellowship, announced by India, for students of the Indo-Pacific region to pursue a 4-year bachelor’s level engineering programme at a Government of India funded technical institute.
The Leaders welcomed the next hosting of the Quad Leaders’ Summit by India in 2025. To take the Quad agenda forward, they adopted the Quad Wilmington Declaration. The Wilmington Declaration Joint Statement from the Leaders of Australia, India, Japan, and the United States, said the release.
