Cancer Moonshot To Sea Observer Mission: Key Takeaways From Quad Summit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Joe Biden, Japan PM Kishida Fumio, and Australia’s Anthony Albanese – met for the fourth in-person Quad Leaders Summit in Wilmington, Delaware on Saturday. In a joint statement, they said the four-member Quad is a “force for good” and is “more strategically aligned” than ever before.

“Four years since elevating the Quad to a leader-level format, the Quad is more strategically aligned than ever before and is a force for good that delivers real, positive, and enduring impact for the Indo-Pacific. We celebrate the fact that over just four years, Quad countries have built a vital and enduring regional grouping that will buttress the Indo-Pacific for decades to come,” the Wilmington Declaration joint statement said.

Key Takeaways From Quad Summit:

Quad Cancer Moonshot

The four leaders have launched a Quad Cancer Moonshot in a bid to reduce the number of lives lost to cancer in the Indo-Pacific, with an initial focus on cervical cancer.

According to the statement, the Quad Cancer Moonshot is projected to save hundreds of thousands of lives over the coming decades.

Quad-at-Sea Ship Observer Mission

They also announced the first-ever “Quad-at-Sea Ship Observer Mission” in 2025, which they said will improve interoperability and advance maritime safety between the Indian Coast Guard and its US, Japan, and Australian counterparts.

Indo-Pacific Logistics Network

A Quad Indo-Pacific Logistics Network pilot project was also launched today to support civilian response to natural disasters more rapidly and efficiently across the Indo-Pacific region.

Quad Ports

The “Quad Ports of the Future Partnership” was also announced to support sustainable and resilient port infrastructure development across the Indo-Pacific.

PM Narendra Modi, Joe Biden, Anthony Albanese and Fumio Kishida meet at the Quad leaders summit at Archmere Academy in Claymont
Photo Credit: PTI

Through this new partnership, Quad partners intend to coordinate, exchange information, share best practices with partners in the region, and leverage resources to mobilize government and private sector investments in quality port infrastructure across the Indo-Pacific region.

Semiconductors

The Quad leaders also announced the finalization of a Memorandum of Cooperation for the Semiconductor Supply Chains Contingency Network to facilitate collaboration in addressing semiconductor supply chain risks.

Reform UN Security Council

The four leaders also agreed to reform the UN Security Council and recognised the urgent need to make it “more “representative, inclusive, transparent, efficient, effective, democratic, and accountable” through expansion in permanent and non-permanent categories of membership of the UNSC.

At a bilateral meeting, Joe Biden also told PM Modi that the US supports initiatives to “reform global institutions to reflect India’s important voice, including permanent membership for India in a reformed UN Security Council”.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks as US President Joe Biden looks on at the Quad Leaders Summit
Photo Credit: PTI

Quad’s MAITRI

Quad partners also agreed to launch a “Maritime Initiative for Training in the Indo-Pacific” (MAITRI) to monitor and secure their waters, enforce their laws, and deter “unlawful behavior”. India will host the inaugural MAITRI workshop during its Quad Presidency in 2025

Quad Scholarship

India announced a new initiative to award fifty Quad scholarships, worth $5,00,000, to students from the Indo-Pacific to pursue a 4-year undergraduate engineering program at a Government of India-funded technical institution.