From Cancer Moonshot to Observer Mission, here are 9 key takeaways from Quad Summit

In his meeting with Quad leaders both in multilateral and bilateral settings, Prime Minister Narendra Modi put forward India’s views and commitments for global growth, development, peace and security.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri made these remarks at a special briefing in New York on Sunday (September 22).

Modi on Saturday had three separate bilateral meetings with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and US President Joe Biden along with the Quad Leadership Summit in Wilmington, Delaware.

“All of these engagements today have given the opportunity to the prime minister to put forward India's views and commitments for global growth, development, and peace and security,” Misri told reporters in New York.

Prime Minister Modi reached New York on Sunday after wrapping up the Quad Leaders’ meeting in Wilmington, hosted by President Biden.

The Federal takes you through the key developments of the Quad Summit that witnessed some major announcements from the grouping of four nations that aims to contain China’s growing clout in the Indo-Pacific.

Quad Cancer Moonshot

Amongst the key announcements from the summit was the Quad Cancer Moonshot, which is a groundbreaking partnership to address the challenges posed by cancer and in this particular instance cervical cancer.

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

The grouping launched the programme that will focus on expanding cervical cancer screening; increasing vaccinations against the human papillomavirus, or HPV, a common sexually transmitted infection that is the primary cause of cervical cancer; and treating patients.

Announced by US President Joe Biden, the initiative will begin by catering to cases of cervical cancer, which, according to a statement by the White House, is “a largely preventable disease that continues to be a major health crisis in the Indo-Pacific region”, besides laying the groundwork for other forms of cancer.

As India’s contribution to the initiative, PM Modi dedicated a “grant of US $7.5 million to cancer testing, screening, and diagnostics in the Indo-Pacific region”, according to a release by the Ministry of External Affairs.

Quad-at-Sea Ship Observer Mission

The partners also launched the first-ever Quad at Sea Ship Observer Mission.

This will take place in 2025 to improve interoperability and advance maritime safety between respective coastguards across the Indo-Pacific. It listed the initiative, saying the US Coast Guard, Japan Coast Guard, Australian Border Force and the Indian Coast Guard, had planned to launch a first-ever “Quad-at-Sea” ship observer mission in 2025. “This is to advance maritime safety,” the statement said.

Indo-Pacific Logistics Network

The Quad Indo-Pacific Logistics Network project will pursue shared airlift capacity among nations and leverage their collective logistics strengths to support civilian response to natural disasters more efficiently and more rapidly.

Quad Ports

The Quad Ports of the Future Partnership will harness Quad's collective expertise to support sustainable and resilient port infrastructure development across the Indo-Pacific. Partners will share practices that ensure that our ports can maintain an acceptable level of service and infrastructure to ships, especially in the face of disruptions.

Semiconductors

A memorandum of cooperation has been announced that would leverage the complementary strengths of the Quad partners to realise a diversified and competitive market and enhance Quad resilience in semiconductor supply chains, he said.

UN Security Council

There was discussion of multiple regional and global issues, and amongst them the need for the reform of the multilateral system of governance, including the UN Security Council.

During the Prime Minister's meeting with Biden, both sides on the occasion of this meeting exchanged agreements on the deposit of the instruments of ratification for Pillar 3 and Pillar 4 of the IPEF and the overarching agreement thereof.

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.

India to host Quad Summit in 2025

Modi also mentioned that at a time when the world is ridden with tensions and conflicts, the coming together of these four Quad partners with shared democratic values is important for humanity. He said the Quad was here to stay, to assist, to partner and to complement the efforts of the Indo-Pacific countries, Misri said.

“The leaders took stock of the progress that has been achieved by the Quad over the last year and set forth an ambitious agenda for the next year,” he said adding that India will be hosting the Quad Summit in 2025.

(With agency inputs)