Without mentioning China or Russia, the Quad quartet of India, US, Japan and Australia announced what is essentially a de facto security alliance aimed at countering an expansionist Beijing-led axis.
Pledging to be a force for good that delivers “real, positive and enduring impact for the Indo-Pacific”, Quad leaders said in what was called the “Wilmington Declaration” that the countries were “more strategically aligned than ever before” and that they would “buttress the Indo-Pacific for decades to come”.
Only a formal mutual defence element is missing from the 5,700-word declaration issued at the end of talks, PM Narendra Modi had with President Joe Biden, his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida, and Australia's Anthony Albanese.
On page after page of the declaration, the four countries, presenting themselves as the “leading maritime democracies in the Indo-Pacific”, transparently detailed measures aimed at seeking a region “where no country dominates and no country is dominated”. The declaration opposes - in an oblique reference to China -“destabilising or unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion”.
In a sign of New Delhi’s growing distance from Moscow on the Russia-Ukraine war, the declaration also calls for a “comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in line with international law, consistent with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, including respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity”. It notes the negative impacts of the war with regard to global food and energy security, especially for developing and least developed countries.
Among more than a dozen measures outlined in the declaration are a new regional Maritime Initiative for Training in the Indo-Pacific (MAITRI) to maximise tools to monitor and secure waters, enforce laws, and deter unlawful behaviour. There is also a first-ever Quad-at-Sea Ship Observer Mission in 2025, meant to improve interoperability and advance maritime safety.
The third is a Quad Indo-Pacific Logistics Network pilot project to pursue shared airlift capacity and leverage the countries’ collective logistics strengths.
