The Contemporary scenario evidently signifies that theater of power contestation has shifted from land to maritime domain. The Indo-Pacific is considered the hub of containment, cooperation, conflict owing to its geo-strategic significance. The region has garnered renewed attention since China kicked off its mega Belt and Road Initiative, notably the Maritime Silk Road. Resultantly, states under the auspices of Quad have been incessantly collaborating to maintain balance of power in region.

Genesis of Quad

Quad or QSD (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue) refers to the informal strategic forum consisting of four states: USA, Japan, Australia, and India with a view regarding Indo-Pacific Region. In 2007, the group held its first meeting on the ASEAN (Association of the South East Asian Nations) sideline meetings. The Quad group is characterized by maritime democracies’ alliance which in turn is maintained by information exchanges, semi-regular summits, military drills as well as meetings between the Quad’s member states.

Quad Basic Principles

The basic principle of the Quad refers to the key aims and objectives of Quad which are as follows: 1) Keeping Indo-Pacific strategic sea routes open and free from political as well as military alliance; 2) Freedom of navigation; 3) Rule based global order in the Indo-Pacific Region; 4) Liberal trading system; 5) Provision of alternative debt financing to Indo-Pacific region’s states.

Balance of Power

Balance of power is one of the oldest and most fundamental concepts in international relations. It is a state of affair in which imbalances and concentrations in military and material capabilities among great powers are checked and equilibrium is restored in order to ensure survival of major powers in international system. The concept remains dominant in work of key realist scholars such as Thucydides, Nicholas Machiavelli, Lorenzo Medici, Hans J. Morgenthau, and Kenneth Waltz. The self-help anarchic system and shifts in relative distribution of capabilities mean that balance of power recurrently form in international system. In bipolar distribution of power (two great powers), states balance through internal military buildup. In multipolar distributions of power (three or more), states balance through formation of counterbalancing alliances. Two assumptions are of central relevance:  1) International system is considered to be anarchic, with no system-wide authority being formally enforced on its agents; 2) States are principle actors in international system, as they “set terms of the intercourse”, monopolize “legitimate use of force” within their territories, and generally conduct foreign policy in a “single voice”.

Balancing in Indo-Pacific Region

Nation-states are constantly engaging in balancing acts: striving to weigh between interests and values; guns and butter; economic gain and national security. In three important ways, China’s neighbors are engaging in balancing in line with what realist theory would predict. First, at a macro regional level, there is substantial evidence of accelerated internal and external balancing in the Indo-Pacific. Military spending has been growing faster in Asia than nearly any other region of the world and the continent now hosts nine out of the world’s top ten defense importers. Second, what began a decade ago as tentative steps toward greater defense collaboration among some Chinese neighbors has broken into an open sprint in recent years. There has been material growth in the quality and quantity of defense collaboration and joint military exercises, security-focused bilateral, trilateral and multilateral dialogues joint vision statements and military inter-operability agreements most prominently seen in the form of Quad and AUKUS. Third, traditional military balancing has been accelerating among the Quad. China’s deteriorating bilateral relationships with each member of group and growing concerns about its challenges to rules-based order helped spur the revival of the quadrilateral dialogue.

Leaders from the Quad, ASEAN and beyond have been more vocal in supporting the underlying tenets of regional order, including freedom of navigation, peaceful dispute settlement, support for international law and the UN Convention on Law of the Sea. Many Indo-Pacific states are increasingly devoting their energy not toward “containing” China but toward constraining its capacity to infringe on their interests and undermine what they consider as rule-based order. They’re seeking to craft, enhance and defend norms, laws, institutions, and principles that constrain China in region.

Quad and defense capabilities of the member states

Since 2007 when the Quad was created, it has emerged into multilateral strategic forum in order to increase the coordination in military domain amongst the Japan, US, Australia, and India in the Indo-Pacific region. Addressing the mutual concerns’ issue is at the core of the Quad, notably the rise of the China. In 2021, a joint statement was signed by the leaders of Quad in which they emphasized Indo-Pacific rule based order and this reference is particularly to territorial claims of China in East and South China Seas. Members of Quad have dispute PRC such as sovereignty claim of China and Japan over Senkaku Islands, China and India border dispute with China and worsening ties of Australia with China such as onerous tariffs and trade restrictions. Currently the group is termed as Quad 2.0 which refers to the group revised version since 2017, given the culmination of the strategic threats from military and economic power of China across the region.

The table given below shows the various aspects of security collaboration among Quad member states.

Non-military cooperation under Quad

The partner countries have launched the Quad Infrastructure Coordination Group in order to share assessments of needs with respect to the regional infrastructure as well as coordination regarding provision of the high-tech and transparent infrastructure in Indo-Pacific region. It is considered as Quad states’ response to China’s Belt and Road Initiative project.

2. “ Spirit of the Quad and formation of Working groups

In 2021 Virtual Quad meeting, leaders of four member states created a working group for three key non-military areas. The key aim of these working groups are

1. Vaccine Expert Group: effective and safe distribution of vaccine
2. Climate Working Group: To strengthen various climate related actions at global level such as adaptation, mitigation, technology building capacity and resilience.
3. Emerging Technology Working Group: Cooperation on innovative technologies, supply chain resilience as well as international working standards.

Analysis

With the changing strategic milieu of Asia-Pacific, like-minded states are forging staunch partnerships under Quad to balance the rise of China in region. The group’s cooperation is likely to enhance however prospects of its consolidation into NATO like formal alliance remains bleak. It is expected to become preeminent security framework whereby member states will benefit from economic, diplomatic, and most importantly military coordination. Despite ever-increasing frequency and intensity of security cooperation among Quad states, it is also expected that number of Quad states will increase in future which is also termed as ‘Quad Plus’ implying the addition of states likes UK and France. With China on one hand and Quad states on the other, the pursuit for increasing prowess will continue to remain making region a hub of geopolitical contestation.