Prime Minister Narendra Modi attends the sixth Quad Leaders’ Summit in Wilmington, Delaware-US

By R Anil Kumar

• At a time when the world is ridden with tensions and conflicts, the coming together of Quad partners, with shared democratic ethos and values, is important for humanity: PM Modi

• Quad group stood for upholding the international order based on the rule of law, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and with a commitment to pursue peaceful resolution of disputes: PM Modi

Wilmington, Delaware, US. Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated in the sixth Quad Leaders’ Summit in Wilmington, Delaware on September 21, 2024, hosted by the President of the United States of America, H.E. Mr. Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Prime Minister of Australia, H.E. Mr. Anthony Albanese and Prime Minister of Japan, H.E. Mr. Fumio Kishida also participated.

In his address, Prime Minister thanked President Biden for hosting the Summit and for his personal commitment to strengthen the Quad as a force for global good.

Prime Minister stated that at a time when the world is ridden with tensions and conflicts, the coming together of Quad partners, with shared democratic ethos and values, is important for humanity.

He emphasized that the group stood for upholding the international order based on the rule of law, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and with a commitment to pursue peaceful resolution of disputes.

He further stated that a free, open, inclusive and prosperous Indo-Pacific was a shared objective of the Quad partners. He underlined that the Quad was here to stay, to assist, to partner and to complement the efforts of Indo-Pacific countries.

Reiterating that the Quad remains to be a “force for global good,” the Leaders made the following announcements to address the development priorities of the Indo-Pacific region and of the global community as a whole: “Quad Cancer Moonshot”, a groundbreaking partnership to save lives in the Indo-Pacific region by combating cervical cancer. “Maritime Initiative for Training in the Indo-Pacific” (MAITRI) to enable Indo-Pacific partners to maximize tools provided through IPMDA and other Quad initiatives.

First-ever “Quad-at-Sea Ship Observer Mission” in 2025 to improve interoperability and advance maritime safety.

“Quad Ports of the Future Partnership” which will harness the Quad’s collective expertise to support sustainable and resilient port infrastructure development across the Indo-Pacific.

“Quad Principles for Development and Deployment of Digital Public Infrastructure” in the region and beyond.

A “Semiconductor Supply Chains Contingency Network Memorandum of Cooperation” to enhance resilience of Quad’s semiconductor supply chains.

“Collective Quad effort to boost energy efficiency, including deployment and manufacturing of high-efficiency affordable cooling systems in the Indo-Pacific region”.

“India’s establishment of a space-based web portal for Mauritius, to support the concept of open science for space-based monitoring of extreme weather events and climate impact.”

“A new sub-category under the Quad STEM Fellowship, announced by India, for students of the Indo-Pacific region to pursue a 4-year bachelor’s level engineering programme at a Government of India funded technical institute.”

The Leaders welcomed the next hosting of the Quad Leaders’ Summit by India in 2025. To take the Quad agenda forward, they adopted the Quad Wilmington Declaration.

Prime Minister’s meeting with the Prime Minister of Australia

The two leaders discussed strengthening bilateral cooperation across a wide range of areas such as political and strategic, defence and security, trade and investments, education and research, climate change and renewable energy, and people-to-people ties. The Prime Ministers also exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest. They acknowledged that the frequency of high-level contacts has imparted a strong momentum to bilateral relations.

Both leaders renewed their commitment to strengthening cooperation in the multilateral fora and reiterated their commitment to take the India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership to even greater heights.