QUAD

Subject: International Relations

Context: Navies of the ‘Quad’ can swing together to tackle any threat in Indo-Pacific: Top Indian & US commanders.

Concept:

It is a four-nation alliance of India, Australia, USA and Japan which was established in 2007.
It is often dubbed as an “Asian” or “mini” NATO, and is viewed as a counterbalance to China’s military and economic clout in the Indo-Pacific region.
The 2020 US-China Economic and Security Review Commission shows China’s growing power projection along the Indian Ocean rim with military or economic activities in countries like Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Myanmar and Bangladesh.
Interestingly, the QUAD, which used to be known as the quadrilateral security dialogue, is now known as the quadrilateral framework to indicate it has gone beyond a narrow security dialogue.
In November 2017, India, the USA, Australia and Japan gave shape to the long-pending “QUAD” Coalition to develop a new strategy to keep the critical sea routes in the Indo-Pacific free of any influence (especially China).
Since then, QUAD has taken several steps to bolster military and strategic ties with a series of working- and ministerial-level meetings.

Participation in Malabar Exercise:

In 2020, all four QUAD Countries – Japan, India, Australia and the USA took part in the Malabar exercise.
Malabar exercise is an annual trilateral naval exercise between the navies of India, Japan, and the USA which is held alternately in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.