Indian Ocean Conference - Quad STEM Fellowship - US Indo-Pacific Strategy - Kwatra Tokyo Visit
India, Australia at the Indian Ocean Conference, 2024
In his keynote speech to the conference, Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar noted that the Quad “...supports the larger architecture in this part of the world that has been painstakingly built up over so many years by ASEAN processes”. He also noted that those who “mischievously” suggest that “Quad questions the centrality of the ASEAN are playing their own…I am confident that ASEAN will see through it”.
The theme for this year’s conference was "Towards a Stable and Sustainable Indian Ocean”. The event was attended by ministers from over 22 countries, senior officials from 16 countries, and 6 multilateral organizations, including Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Jaishankar also said the Quad is “the outcome of the changing capabilities of the major powers and the implications that it has for all of the world”. He also said that the relevance of the Quad would grow and it would become a bigger factor in the larger regional and beyond the region politics and policy”.
Jaishankar also spoke about India’s growing relationship with Australia.
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Also, see Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s keynote address and press conference transcript.
Wong mentioned the need to build an “Indian Ocean community” and that “[c]ountries of the Indo-Pacific face China’s rapid military build-up without the transparency and reassurance that the region looks for from great powers”. She also said India and Australia were working to provide “practical options in the region to help boost sovereign capability in the maritime domain”.
Quad’s STEM Fellowship to include ASEAN participants
This year's iteration of the Quad STEM fellowship will include candidates from the ten countries of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The fellowship aims to build ties among the next generation of scientists and technologies by sponsoring master’s and doctoral students to study in the United States.
US notes Quad’s progress under its Indo-Pacific Strategy
Marking the two-year anniversary of releasing the Biden administration’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, a White House statement noted progress towards cooperation in the Indo-Pacific. Regarding the Quad, it notes that the US continues to work with Quad partners, noting the progress of the Quad Investors’ Network (QUIN), the Quad Infrastructure Fellowships, and the Quad Partnership for Cable Connectivity and Resilience. Under the latter domain, the statement notes that over 1,000 telecom officials and executives have been trained. Collaboration for civilian security issues through the Quad Counterrorism Working Group has also been noted.
Addressing the media, Adrienne Watson, spokesperson for the National Security Council of the White House, said: “The United States has never been in a stronger position in the Indo-Pacific…[and has] reinvested and revitalised its alliances and partnerships and taken them to new heights”.
Indian Foreign Secretary Visits Japan
Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra visited Japan and carried out a comprehensive review of the India-Japan Strategic and Global Partnership, including in areas of defence, trade investment, technologies, and people-to-people ties.
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Kwatra consulted with Japan’s Quad Sherpa and senior deputy minister for foreign affairs, Takehiro Funakoshi, and “exchanged views on the regional situation and India-Japan cooperation in the shared Indo-Pacific region and other issues of common interest”.
What we’re reading this week
This piece by ASPI’s Justin Bassi discusses technology cooperation between India and Australia, and where the Quad fits in