Highlights
- US President Joe Biden hosted the first virtual Quad Summit on 13 March to cooperate on Indo-Pacific, COVID and technology
- Prime ministers of Australia, India and Japan also participated, agreed to fight pandemic together
- Quad could strengthen Australia-India ties, believe foreign policy experts
Discussion amongst the leaders of the Quad revolved around technology, the pandemic and how they can cooperate to combat it. US President Joe Biden hosted the first virtual summit from the White House in which Prime Ministers Scott Morrison, Narendra Modi and Yoshihide Suga also participated.
This summit has led foreign policy analysts to believe the Quad will pave the way for more areas to collaborate on including defence and trade, especially between Australia and India.
The Quad leaders discussed the production of 1 billion doses of the COVID vaccine in India with financial support from the US and Japan. Australia will chip in with support for its distribution and logistics.
While the geopolitical situation in the Indo-Pacific region will take its own course, achieving the targets of this summit on the COVID vaccine could herald a joint victory for the Quad members in their war against the virus.
Former High Commissioner of India to Australia, G Parthasarathy said that it will strengthen ties between Australia and India.
“It’s time both countries can work together on many issues including military alliance,” he said.
Professor SD Muni from New Delhi think-tank, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, believes that India and Australia have come closer over the last few years.
Professor SD Muni (L) and Nitin Ghokhale. Source: Supplied by SD Muni and Nikhil Gokhale.
“There is a lot more scope for cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region. Both countries are making efforts to increase their bilateral trade. It’s a clear statement that these four countries are going to cooperate in various areas too,” he noted.
The Quad could evolve from its current objectives in the long run, says Nitin Gokhale, a media entrepreneur, strategic affairs analyst and author of books on military history, insurgencies and wars.
Experts on geopolitics and international business concur that this summit was a response to what some countries perceive as “Chinese aggression”.
“The Quad countries might not come out in the open and say it out loud, but they have differences with China at various levels. This summit is the reaffirmation of four countries coming together to open new frontiers in the Indo-Pacific region,” said Mr Gokhale.
Mr Parthasarathy also said that this summit will send a signal to China after the recent military conflicts with India.
According to the Australia Economic Strategy Report published by the Confederation of Indian Industry in 2020, India has the potential to increase its export of goods and services to Australia from approximately US$5 billion in 2018 to 15 billion in 2025 and 35 billion in 2035.
The report indicates opportunities for cooperation between the two countries in 20 industry sectors.
