News Mania Desk/ Piyal Chatterjee / 22nd September 2024
On Saturday in Wilmington, Delaware, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Joe Biden, Japanese PM Kishida Fumio, and Australian PM Anthony Albanese convened for the fourth in-person Quad Leaders Summit. The four-member Quad was described as a “force for good” and as being “more strategically aligned” than ever before in a joint statement.
“Four years since elevating the Quad to a leader-level format, the Quad is more strategically aligned than ever before and is a force for good that delivers real, positive, and enduring impact for the Indo-Pacific. We celebrate the fact that over just four years, Quad countries have built a vital and enduring regional grouping that will buttress the Indo-Pacific for decades to come,” the Wilmington Declaration joint statement said.
In an effort to lower the number of cancer-related deaths in the Indo-Pacific region, the four presidents have formed the Quad Cancer Moonshot, with a primary focus on cervical cancer.The announcement claims that over the next several decades, the Quad Cancer Moonshot is expected to save hundreds of thousands of lives.
Additionally, they said that the first-ever “Quad-at-Sea Ship Observer Mission” will take place in 2025 and that it will enhance maritime safety and interoperability between the Indian Coast Guard and its colleagues in the US, Japan, and Australia.
Today also saw the start of a pilot project called the Quad Indo-Pacific Logistics Network, which aims to facilitate faster and more effective civilian response to natural catastrophes throughout the Indo-Pacific region.
In addition, the “Quad Ports of the Future Partnership” was unveiled to encourage the construction of robust and sustainable port infrastructure in the Indo-Pacific region.By means of this new cooperation, the Quad partners hope to mobilize resources to support government and private sector investments in high-quality port infrastructure throughout the Indo-Pacific region. They also hope to coordinate, share best practices, and exchange information with partners in the area.
In order to promote cooperation in tackling supply chain risks related to semiconductors, the Quad leaders also announced the completion of a Memorandum of Cooperation for the Semiconductor Supply Chains Contingency Network.
The four leaders also decided to overhaul the UN Security Council and acknowledged the pressing need to increase the number of permanent and non-permanent membership categories in order to make the body “more “representative, inclusive, transparent, efficient, effective, democratic, and responsible.”
The US supports efforts to “reform global institutions to reflect India’s important voice, including permanent membership for India in a reformed UN Security Council,” Joe Biden also informed PM Modi during a bilateral discussion.
Additionally, the quad partners decided to start the “Maritime Initiative for Training in the Indo-Pacific” (MAITRI) in order to keep an eye on their waterways, enforce their legal systems, and discourage “unlawful behavior”. The first MAITRI workshop will take place in India in 2025, under its Quad Presidency.
India unveiled a new program to grant fifty Quad scholarships, totaling $5,00,000, to students from the Indo-Pacific region so they can enroll in a four-year undergraduate engineering program at a technical college supported by the Indian government.
