The Quad’s Wilmington Declaration: Marching Towards Its Original Mandate Or Shifting?

The Quad Summit took place in the United States recently. The leaders adopted the Wilmington Declaration in which cooperation on projects ranging from health to infrastructure was announced. The writer asserts that Quad has shifted its agenda from the Indo-Pacific strategy to global challenges.

On September 21, 2024, US President Joe Biden, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Australian PM Anthony Albanese, and Japanese PM Kishida Fumio all came together to take out the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) agenda forward to combat problems within the Indo Pacific and adopted Wilmington Declaration in which cooperation on projects ranging from health to infrastructure was announced. Most of the actions are doomed to counterbalance assertive China devoid of a proper strategy and without naming it in the declaration.

Crucial deliverables of Wilmington Declaration

Quad summit deliverables include global health and health Security, infrastructure, Indo-Pacific logistics network, critical and emerging technology, coast guard cooperation, undersea cables and digital connectivity, Maritime initiative for training in Indo-Pacific etc.

Quad countries launched a new initiative ‘Quad Cancer Moonshot’ to reduce the burden of cancer in the Indo-Pacific region and continued support for the Pandemic Fund. ‘Quad Ports of the Future Partnership’ was launched to exploit the Quad’s collective expertise for the development of port infrastructure to share practices to guarantee that ports can maintain proper service and infrastructure to ships, cargoes, and other clients in pandemics, natural disasters and cyber or terrorist attacks across the Indo-Pacific region.

A ‘Quad Indo-Pacific Logistics Network’ project was launched to pursue shared airlift capacity among the partner states and leverage their collective logistics strengths to enable faster and more efficient civilian responses to natural disasters more rapidly and efficiently in the region.

The Quad committed to harnessing emerging technologies like Open Radio Access Network (RAN), 5G, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Biotechnology and Semiconductors for the benefit of people across the Indo-Pacific, and deploying these technologies to assist economic opulence and connectivity. As a part of increased military logistics cooperation, the Quad nations announced ‘Quad-at-Sea Ship Observer Mission’ to be held in 2025, linking the US, Japan, Australia, and Indian Coast Guards personnel to enhance cooperation maritime safety and interoperability.

Through the ‘Quad Partnership for Cable Connectivity and Resilience’, Quad partners decided to continue to support and strengthen undersea cable networks in the Indo-Pacific, which are associated with the security and prosperity of the region and the world. The Quad leaders announced the ‘Maritime Initiative for Training in the Indo- Pacific’ (MAITRI) to help regional partners effectively use tools from the Indo- Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA) and other Quad initiatives to share best practices, and improve civil maritime cooperation, monitor and secure their waters, enforce their laws, and deter unlawful behavior.

The summit also discerned the urgent need to reform the UNSC; to build a protected cyber security environment; space-related applications to assist nations across the Indo-Pacific to strengthen climate early warning systems and to handle the impacts of extreme weather events; collective effort to boost energy efficiency; countering terrorism; countering disinformation and people-to people initiatives.

India’s Key Commitments

The Quad Summit 2024 witnessed a flock of commitments by India. India committed to provide HPV sampling kits, detection tools and cervical cancer vaccines worth $7.5 million to the Indo-Pacific region. For pandemic preparedness, India obligated to host a workshop and release a white paper outlining emergency public health responses. India announced fifty Quad scholarships worth $500, 000 to students from the Indo-Pacific to pursue a 4-year undergraduate engineering course at an India-funded technical institution. India also pledges $2 million for solar projects in Fiji, Comoros, Madagascar, and Seychelles.

In 2025, India will host the inaugural MAITRI workshop and also set to host the inaugural Regional Ports and Transportation Conference. In support of Quad Partnership for Cable Connectivity and Resilience, India has commissioned a study to examine expansion of undersea cable maintenance and repair capabilities in the Indo-Pacific. India’s space-based web portal for Mauritius which monitors extreme weather events and climate impact is welcomed by the partnering countries.

Impediments in Collective Maritime Security Approach

The members of the Quad are deviating from the reason for the creation of the group, which was as a security dialogue. Geographical priorities, India’s place outside the US alliance network, other regional security initiatives, and ongoing global tensions have been preventing the Quad from taking up an extensive military and defence agenda.

Geographical priorities and alliances

Geographical priorities of the Quad countries are different. India’s conflict come into view on its land borders with China and Pakistan and in Indian Ocean, whereas the US and Japan’s focus on Northeast Asia, Australia in Northeast Indian Ocean. India’s longstanding apprehension about alliances such as abstaining from UN resolutions on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, oil trade with Russia, the Chabahar port deal with Iran are bothering US. Even though India is not a strong military alliance and long-standing treaty ally of US, the US should take care of India as valued a member as Japan and Australia. As a rising economic power and a major maritime power in the Indian Ocean, India’s participation in the group is of mutual gain and strengthens the Quad.

Quad and other Regional Security Initiatives

There is a concern that emergence of regional security initiatives such as Squad (US-Australia-Japan-Philippines) and AUKUS (Australia-United Kingdom-United States) will surpass Quad. These initiatives may complement existing mechanisms but the Quad’s role with India as an important partner is unique and inimitable due to its geographic location and military competence and potential in the Indo-Pacific region. Chietigj Bajpaee, senior research fellow in the Asia-Pacific Programme at Chatham House suggests the “merger of the Quad and the Squad as part of a new Quad plus framework” will benefit the Quad to focus on the Indian Ocean Region while Squad to focus on the South China Sea. Also the expansion of Quad member ship will also benefit to embark upon the evolving regional volatile security dynamics in the vast Indo-Pacific environment. Rahul Misra, Associate Professor at the Centre for Indo-Pacific Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, in his article in the Interpreter proposed to add Philippines and South Korea to Quad for a better approach to evolving regional dynamics.

Quad and Ongoing Global Tensions

Quad leaders convey serious apprehensions about China-centered order with its threatening maneuvers and territorial disputes in the South China Sea and the East China Sea. But the “Wilmington Declaration” seems to be weak and embarrassing because it didn’t mention China by name, only just mentioning “our serious concern about the militarisation of disputed features” and “intimidating manoeuvres in the South China Sea”.

Moreover, Modi’s statement “not against anyone but we are here to stay” indicates that India is determined to ease tensions with China. The leaders underlined and tried to portray that the Quad as a joint venture focused on mutual advantages but not against China specifies that there is shift in their focus from containing China to other imperative and burning international issues Russia -Ukraine war, where Ukraine is be adamant to make use of US-made long-range missiles to hit targets deep inside Russia and continuous Israel attacks on its adversaries.

Conclusion

The gaps in the Wilmington Declaration have been exposed and its constraints in geopolitics have been made clear and confined itself to focus on non-security aspects that could tackle issues of climate to natural disasters; benefit from critical ,and emerging technologies; fabricate high-standard digital infrastructure etc. It is clear that it shifted its agenda from the Indo-Pacific strategy to global challenges.

However, Quad has to hone its focus on the security and military components rather than non-security aspects to engage in and monitor China’s growing belligerent activities in key sea passages and chokepoints in the vast Indo-Pacific maritime environment. In view of that, the forthcoming Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting (2025) in US and the Quad Leaders Summit (2025) in India be supposed mto stride towards a more security and military undertaking owing to the complications going up by the Chinese growing naval power.

Disclaimer:The opinions expressed in this article are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of ETV Bharat.