Analysing India’s Interests in the QUAD

The QUAD or the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue is an alliance between India, Japan, Australia, and the United States (US). A grouping created as a tool for relief and rescue (disaster management) during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the QUAD has now re-emerged as a security dialogue in the Indo-Pacific against all odds. As an alliance of democracies, the QUAD’s primary objective is ensuring a free, inclusive, and open Indo-Pacific. The pitch to formalise QUAD came from the then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe with his speech titled “Confluence of Two Seas,” altering the significance of the Indo-Pacific region. The group initially met on the sidelines during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit, 2007. However, the dialogue was dismantled after the withdrawal of Australia due to Chinese pressure. Japan’s idea of a democratic security diamond reignited the desire to regroup QUAD. The re-emergence of QUAD marks a shift in rethinking the growing Chinese influence in the region.

Apart from pursuing common challenges like freedom of navigation and rules-based international order, each of the QUAD members has interests in the grouping. It is a forum for India, Japan, and Australia to counter Chinese hostilities in the Indo-Pacific region. For the US, challenging China’s hegemony in the Indo-Pacific and upholding democratic values at the global level is of primary interest. China is the common factor behind the grouping, even though the QUAD does not explicitly mention it. The members assert that the QUAD is a grouping meant to deepen diplomatic and economic ties, but it is an unstated fact that the QUAD is a strategic counter to China.