The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QSD), better known as the ‘Quad’, started as a strategic dialogue in 2007.  

• The dialogue members included India, the US, Australia and Japan.  
• It was established to check the growth of Chinese power in what was still referred to as ‘Asia-Pacific’, and which has since become ‘Indo-Pacific’.  
• The Quad had its real genesis in the response to the 2004-2005 Asian Tsunami when India showed prowess in spearheading the relief and rescue effort in South East Asia.  
• However, the principal aim of the Quad was strategic, with a quest to manage the consequences for the regional balance of power in the Indo-Pacific due to the scale and scope of China’s rise. 

Source: The Hindu