Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi participated in the sixth Quad Leaders’ Summit in Wilmington, Delaware on 21 September 2024, hosted by the President of the United States of America Joe Biden. Prime Minister of Australia Mr. Anthony Albanese and Prime Minister of Japan Mr. Fumio Kishida also participated.
- During the summit, the Quad strongly condemned aggression in the East and South China Sea and expressed alarm over the war in Ukraine, noting that all four leaders had visited the country.
Initiatives
- The ‘Quad Cancer Moonshot’ will involve contributions from all four countries to combat cervical cancer. India will commit $ 10 million towards screening for the disease. Vaccine manufacturer, Serum Institute of India and Gavi will provide up to 40 million vaccines for the region, “subject to approvals”.
- The U.S. Coast Guard, Japan Coast Guard, Australian Border Force, and Indian Coast Guard plan to launch a first-ever Quad-at-Sea Ship Observer Mission in 2025 in the Indo-Pacific to improve interoperability.
- A Maritime Initiative for Training in the Indo-Pacific (MAITRI), to train Quad partners “to monitor and secure their waters, enforce their laws, and deter unlawful behaviour” was also announced. India will host the first MAITRI workshop in 2025.
- In 2023, Quad partners announced the first-ever Open Radio Access Network (RAN) deployment in the Pacific, in Palau, to support a secure, resilient, and interconnected telecommunications ecosystem. The Quad plans to expand support for ongoing Open RAN field trials and the Asia Open RAN Academy (AORA) in the Philippines, building on the initial $8 million in support that the United States and Japan pledged earlier this year.
(Updated)
