The sixth Quad Leaders’ Summit was held in US President Biden’s hometown, Wilmington, Dela ware, on 21 September, amid enduring wars in Europe and the Middle East, and China’s growing belligerent activities in the IndoPacific. This was the sixth summit of Quad leaders since it was formalised in March 2021 by President Biden, who has always taken keen interest in the framework of cooperation and coordination among the Quad members.

Though originally conceptualised as a coalition of relief and rehabilitation work comprising America, Australia, India, and Japan in the backdrop of the devastating tsunami that hit Southeast Asia in 2004, Quad, or “Quadrilateral Security Dialogue,” has evolved over the years into a forum for security dialogue between coalition partners. This coincided with the rise of China as a global economic and military power. In 2006, the then Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, mooted the idea of establishing a high-level strategic dialogue among the “Asia-Pacific Democratic G3 plus America.”

The first exploratory meeting of Quad leaders was held on the sidelines of the Asean Regional Forum summit in the Philippines in May 2007. The navies of the Quad countries conducted a naval exercise in the Bay of Bengal known as the Malabar exercise, which was originally a bilateral drill between India and the US. The latest edition of the Malabar Naval Exercise will be hosted by India in October with special focus on countering China’s growing maritime challenges in the South China Sea and the broader Indo-Pacific waters.

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However, the initial enthusiasm shown by Quad leaders was short-lived, and it fell apart with the resignation of its key driver, Japanese PM Abe, and new Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s decision to build good relations with China; he decided to pull out of the grouping. India was also not very comfortable with framing the Quad as an anti-China grouping. China’s increasing assertiveness and claims over disputed areas in the South and East China Seas and ambitious regional maritime agenda played a pivotal role in the revival of the Quad in 2017 after a hiatus of nearly a decade.

Considering China’s response and Australia’s strategic uncertainty with........

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