By Staff Writer
On Friday, the first-ever in-person meeting of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (the Quad) between Australia, the US, India, and Japan took place in Washington, DC. The high-level meeting focused on security and cooperation within the Indo-Pacific region.
A range of cooperation initiatives and agreements covered tackling COVID-19 and the vaccination rollout, regional infrastructure, climate change, emerging technologies, space, cybersecurity, and nurturing next-generation talent.
“We live in a part of the world that is changing dramatically,” said Prime Minister Scott Morrison, arguing the region’s future will “determine all our futures.”
Among the initiatives, significant shipping ports in the region will be asked to establish a network dedicated to greening and decarbonizing the shipping value chain.
“Quad countries represent major maritime shipping hubs with some of the largest ports in the world,” said a White House statement. “As a result, Quad countries are uniquely situated to deploy green-port infrastructure and clean-bunkering fuels at scale.”
Also on the table is a clean-hydrogen partnership to strengthen and reduce costs across all elements of the clean-hydrogen value chain. It includes technology development and the efficient scaling up of clean hydrogen production, developing delivery infrastructure in the region, and boosting demand for clean hydrogen.
Technical standards, 5G diversification and deployment, horizon-scanning, and technology supply chains for critical and emerging technologies were addressed at the two-hour meeting. The Quad agreed to launch a statement of principles on technology design, development, governance, and use regarding high-standards innovation.
The leaders agreed on establishing technical standards contact groups, a semiconductor supply chain initiative, support 5G deployment and diversification and monitor biotechnology scanning.
The Quad will also begin space cooperation for the first time. This will see the four countries exchange satellite data focused on monitoring and adapting to climate change and disaster preparedness. Capacity-building in space-related domains in other Indo-Pacific countries will be facilitated and encouraged.
In the wake of several high-profile cyber and ransomware attacks this year, a Quad senior cyber group is being set up to build critical infrastructure resilience against cyber threats. The group will meet regularly to drive continuous improvement in areas including the adoption and implementation of shared cyber standards, development of secure software, building workforce and talent, and promoting the scalability and cybersecurity of secure and trustworthy digital infrastructure.
Mr Morrison calls the Quad a practical group. “We’re focused on demonstrating how democracies get things done,” he said in Washington on the weekend. “We agreed that we’ve got to keep it simple, keep it focused and keep getting the job done.”
Friday’s meeting presented a united and highly visible front against China’s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region. However, China says the Quad is “doomed to fail.”
In addition to the Quad group meeting, US President Jo Biden held separate one-on-one meetings with Mr Morrison, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Quad meeting continued a pivot towards the Indo-Pacific from the US and follows the establishment of the AUKUS defence agreement ten days ago.
Prime Minister Morrison returned to Australia on Sunday evening.
