First “Quad Summit” Held Virtually

What is the news?

The first-ever leadership Quad summit held virtually.

About the First Quad Summit:

• Participation: Indian Prime Minister, US President, Australian PM, and Japanese PM participated virtually in the first Quad summit.

What were the key takeaways from the Summit?

 Free and Open Indo-Pacific:

• The leaders have called for a free and open Indo-Pacific. They aim for an Indo-Pacific that is inclusive, healthy, backed by democratic values, and not by coercion.
• The leaders have also pledged to promote a free, open rules-based order, rooted in international law to advance security and prosperity and counter threats to both in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.

Working Groups: The leaders have decided to create three working groups:

• Vaccine Expert Working Group: It comprises top scientists and officials. They will design an implementation plan for the vaccine partnership.
• Climate working group: The group will work to strengthen the implementation of the Paris Agreement and strengthen climate actions globally for mitigation, adaptation, resilience, and climate finance.
• Critical and emerging technology working group: It will facilitate cooperation on international standards and innovative future technologies and their safe and judicious use.

Quad summit Vaccine Initiative:

• The Quad summit  leaders agreed on a Quad Vaccine initiative. It aims to send 1 billion coronavirus vaccines across Asia by the end of 2022.
• Under this initiative, India will use its manufacturing capacity to make US vaccines.  Finances for that will come from the US International Development Finance Corporation and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation.
• Australia will finance training and provide last-mile logistical support for the distribution of vaccines.

About Quad summit:

• Quad summit is the strategic dialogue between four countries viz. India, United States, Japan, and Australia.
• Origin:
  • The grouping traces its genesis to 2004, when the four countries came together to coordinate relief operations in the aftermath of the tsunami.
  • However, the idea of Quad summit was initiated in 2007 by the Japanese Prime Minister. But it was dropped with the withdrawal of Australia. It was later revived in the year 2017.
• Objective: It is viewed as a group of four democracies. They have a shared objective to ensure and support a free, open, and prosperous Indo-Pacific region.
  • The foundation of Quad summit is also based on collective effort and shared commitment to counter-terrorism, humanitarian assistance, and disaster relief, maritime security cooperation, development finance, and cybersecurity.

Source: The Hindu