Mentor’s Comment:

The growing assertiveness of China in Indo-pacific region has led many countries to worry about. Introduction should explain about the Quad or Quadrilateral Arrangement which is a diplomatic initiative for regional coalition between great big democracies in the Indo-Pacific.

Further, the main body will discuss the need for such arrangement. To counter China’s hegemony and its OBOR polity is the prime reason, navy cooperation, cooperation in free trade, increase connectivity and economic opportunity, safety to international maritime trade route like Malacca strait, humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, search and rescue operation, and various India’s interests like Act East Policy, to counter China’s expansionist policy etc.

Next, mention about the challenges faced by Quad. China’s economic advantages, interests of other countries in China’s trade and economy, Quad as a threat for China and thus China raising voice at international platform, the functional arrangement of Quad is still not clear, US’s isolationists and transactional foreign policy & Australia’s economic links and dependence of China etc…

Next, mention the way forward like need to set the clear mission and vision of Quad, specific focus on strengthening trade, need to softly uniting against China’s growing assertiveness etc…

Next, bring conclusion based on the points of main body.

Model Answer:

Quad or Quadrilateral is a diplomatic initiative for regional coalition between great big democracies in the Indo-Pacific. The member countries in Quad are India, Japan, US and Australia. Similar attempts to create the grouping failed in 2008 after Australia withdrew from participation. But with emergent China and Indo-Pacific region becoming a theatre of increased maritime tension, calls for Quad became louder and in 2017 the grouping got a new push. Recently, first meeting of Quad diplomats at office level happened in Manila.

Need for Quad:

• To counter hegemony of China in the region.
• Single Navy of any country can’t provide security in vast Indo-pacific region.
• The initiative may promote free, open, prosperous and inclusive trade Indo-Pacific region and serves the long term interests of all countries in the region including India.
• It helps India and other three Nations to counter China’s OBOR. As India is refused to join OBOR it helps India to connect with other markets like Central Asian and Southeast Asian markets.
• It will increase connectivity in the Indo-Pacific region n provide economic opportunity.
• Will provide safety to international maritime trade routes like Malacca strait n increase trade.
• Cooperative maritime domain awareness.
• Humanitarian assistance and disaster relief during natural calamities
• Non-combatant evacuation, search and rescue operations.
• Quad is expected to provide a maritime security package involve anti-piracy operations and maritime interdiction to south west Asian countries.
• China’s expansionist policy require a strong regional deterrent which is possible only through regional cooperation and coordination. Thus quad is a natural choice.
• India’s “Act east Policy” has a converging interest with Quad, as both intended to develop rule-based regional order when comes to security or economic interests.
• India-Japan led Asia-Africa economic corridor could provide an alternative to China’s led BRI which is shrouded in secrecy and driven by predatory debt practices.
• Quad members are the region’s four most capable maritime powers. Quad could serve as a platform to tackle some of the important maritime issues that require coordination in today’s strategic environment.

Challenges for Quad:

• Since these four countries are democracies, there can always be a change of government in the future, the new government may not prefer to lose it ties with China due to economic power of China As it happened in the case of Australia in 2007 due to China pressure.
• China is at advantageous position when comes to economic aspects, given its trade ties with Quad and other south Asian neighbors.
• China perceives Quad as an anti-China coalition. Thus, it will try to generate a global voice against Quad.
• The nitty-gritty of the Quad are still not clear. e.g., all except India have mentioned “maritime security” as objective. Similarly, none of the Quad have came out openly against BRI as did by India.
• While the navies of the United States, Japan and Australia can easily operate together – based on common U.S.-designed combat systems and data links – India is the outlier. Not only are most of our ships and warplanes Russian-made, our government and military remain deeply reluctant to share data and open up sensitive military communications systems
• US’s isolationist & transactional foreign policy & Australia’s economic links & dependence on China and therefore low possibility of taking strong action in times of need while India and Japan may be left alone.
• The avowed China-focused narrative revolving around Quad could have direct consequences for India, the only nation in the grouping that shares terrestrial borders with China. Tensions still dominate the bilateral relationship, given the strengthening China-Pakistan nexus and the recently ended two-month standoff in Doklam.

Way Forward:

• There is a need to set up clear mission and values for quadrilateral grouping which are based on regional cooperation which do not target any third country.
• The Quad could commence with a focus on strengthening geoeconomic linkages across the region.
• The India-Japan-ASEAN led Asia Africa Growth Corridor also needs to be formally inducted as a Quad project.
• A framework, probably in the form of a single coordinating authority, could be set up in order for these proposed transnational connectivity projects to be executed in a coordinated manner by the four powers, which would aid in efficient and targeted implementation of these projects.
• Rather than confronting Beijing’s military muscle-flexing, a focus on stronger geo-economic ties could help the nations of the Indo-Pacific create a “soft” hedge against China.

The Quad continues to move along slowly and steadily. The hint of regular meetings suggests that the four countries will continue to explore ways to operationalize a common cooperative agenda in the Indo-Pacific. While there is no indication at the moment that the Quad will turn into a full-blown alliance, the fact that the four countries are discussing the concept suggests a push to deepen ties as part of a strategy to hedge against China and increased cooperation in Indo-Pacific region.