The Quad partnership between the United States, India, Australia and Japan is committed to defending democracy and advancing prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region, while also taking on additional challenges together. Those can include the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change, as well as maritime security and supporting the rule of law in the Indo-Pacific region.
President Biden participated in the Quad’s first leaders meeting on March 12, along with his counterparts: Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga of Japan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India and Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia.
“President Biden has made this one of his earliest multilateral engagements,” said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, adding that it demonstrates “the importance we’ve placed on close cooperation with our allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific.”
The Quad grew out of the four democracies’ humanitarian efforts in response to the 2004 earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean. In recent years, senior officials from the partner nations have consulted on issues such as maritime security, cyber concerns, countering disinformation, counterterrorism, development assistance and humanitarian disaster relief.
At a February Quad foreign ministers meeting, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed “the urgent need to restore the democratically elected government in Burma,” the State Department said.
“Our four nations believe in common fundamental values such as democracy, rule of law and free economy,” Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said in October. “We believe in having a regional responsibility, [and] share the goal of strengthening a rules-based free and open international order.”
Quad partners boosting COVID-19 vaccine production in India
The Quad partner nations are also ramping up production of American-developed vaccines in India to strengthen vaccination efforts across the Indo-Pacific.
President Biden announced the vaccine partnership plan at the outset of the first Quad summit on March 12.
We’re “launching an ambitious new joint partnership that is going to boost vaccine manufacturing” for the global benefit and “strengthen vaccinations to benefit the entire Indo-Pacific,” Biden said. Under the plan, Quad nations will finance, manufacture and distribute at least 1 billion doses of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines by the end of 2022.
“Building on the progress our countries have achieved on health security, we will join forces to expand safe, affordable, and effective vaccine production and equitable access, to speed economic recovery and benefit global health,” the leaders of the four democracies say in a joint statement.
Biden and his Quad counterparts — Modi, Suga, and Morrison — also affirmed their commitment to fighting climate change and supporting the rule of law across the Indo-Pacific region.
The Quad members are working to:
- Strengthen the climate actions of all nations.
- Meet the challenges to the rules-based maritime order in the East and South China Seas.
- Support the people of Burma’s calls for the restoration of democracy.
- Ensure technological innovation is consistent with a free and open Indo-Pacific.
“We are united by our democratic values and our commitment to a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific.” Modi said. “We will work together, closer than ever before, for advancing our shared values and promoting a secure, stable, and prosperous Indo-Pacific.”
The March 12 Quad leaders’ summit is the first multilateral summit that President Biden has hosted as president, part his commitment to maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
“The United States is committed to working with you, our partners, and all our allies in the region to achieve stability,” Biden said. “We’re renewing our commitment to ensure that our region is governed by international law, committed to upholding universal values, and free from coercion.”
In February, Biden announced a $2 billion U.S. contribution to the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility (COVAX), an international effort to support access to vaccines in low and middle-income countries. The United States is collaborating with partners, governments and the private sector to support global COVID-19 vaccination efforts and has already announced the release of an additional $2 billion to COVAX through 2022.