- Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QSD) or Quad is an informal strategic forum among like-minded democracies across the Indian and the Pacific Ocean aimed to ensure and support a “free, open and prosperous” Indo-Pacific region. It comprises of the USA, India, 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 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 is also based on collective effort and shared commitment to counter-terrorism, humanitarian assistance, and disaster relief, maritime security cooperation, development finance, and cybersecurity.
- The Quadrilateral coalition was refurbished as ‘QUAD 2.0’ in 2017 on the lines of the ASEAN Summit. Quad meetings are taking place on a biannual basis.
Read more: Quad Summit and its relevance – Explained, Pointwise
