The Challenge Of Holding The Quad Together, Pg6

Key Highlights:

• The leaders of the Quad countries—India, Australia, Japan, and the U.S.—are expected to meet in Manila in November, on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit.
• This will be the first Quad summit since Donald Trump began his second term as U.S. President and the first for Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
• The previous Quad Leaders’ Summit was held in Wilmington in 2024.
• The Quad experienced strategic turbulence in 2025 due to shifting U.S. geopolitical priorities and changing bilateral relations with members, particularly India.
• Despite challenges, the Quad continued operational synergies, notably elevating the Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness initiative to the Indo-Pacific Maritime Surveillance Collaboration framework in May 2026.

Quad Leaders Summit.jpg

Detailed Insights:

• The upcoming summit in Manila is crucial for reaffirming the Quad's shared purpose and charting its agenda, especially given its lack of a permanent bureaucracy.
• A key question is how President Trump will engage with the Quad and the broader Indo-Pacific, as his current priorities have been focused on the Russia-Ukraine war and West Asia.
• Concerns exist among Indo-Pacific partners regarding a potential shift in U.S. engagement and its insistence on burden-sharing within security architectures like NATO.
• The U.S. decision to review AUKUS has heightened uncertainty, prompting regional countries to diversify their security policies.
• Japan, through its One Cooperative Effort Among Nations (OCEAN) framework, is reshaping its post-war security posture by deepening strategic alignment with partner countries.
• Australia is strengthening defence partnerships with India, Japan, Southeast Asian, and Pacific Island countries to counter China's growing footprint.
• India continues its policy of multi-alignment and diversification of defence and strategic ties with like-minded countries in the Indian Ocean and wider Indo-Pacific.
• A recent meeting between the Defence Ministers of Japan, Australia, and India in Cebu signals a willingness to deepen partnership despite Washington's evolving role.
• The summit in Manila reinforces ASEAN centrality, a foundational strategic pillar of the Quad, and addresses Chinese actions in the region.
• The Quad leaders are expected to reiterate the importance of respecting sovereignty in the South and East China Seas and condemn attempts to disregard international law.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Quad: A strategic dialogue between Australia, India, Japan, and the United States, aimed at promoting a free, open, prosperous, and inclusive Indo-Pacific region.
• ASEAN Centrality: The principle that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) should be at the heart of regional cooperation and security architecture.
• Indo-Pacific: A geopolitical concept emphasizing the interconnectedness of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, crucial for global trade and security.
• Multi-alignment: A foreign policy approach where a nation maintains strategic partnerships with multiple powers, rather than aligning exclusively with one bloc.