MAITRI, Cancer Moonshot, Semiconductor Supply Chains And More: 10 Key Highlights From The Quad Summit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday (21 September) participated in the sixth Quad Leaders’ Summit in Wilmington, Delaware in US.

The summit was hosted by the US President Joe Biden and also attended by Australian PM Anthony Albanese and Japanese PM Fumio Kishida.

In his address, Prime Minister Modi thanked President Biden for hosting the Summit and for his personal commitment to strengthen the Quad as a force for global good.

Modi stated that at a time when the world is ridden with tensions and conflicts, the coming together of Quad partners, with shared democratic ethos and values, is important for humanity.

He emphasised that the group stood for upholding the international order based on the rule of law, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and with a commitment to pursue peaceful resolution of disputes.

He further stated that a free, open, inclusive and prosperous Indo-Pacific was a shared objective of the Quad partners.

PM Modi underlined that the Quad was here to stay, to assist, to partner and to complement the efforts of Indo-Pacific countries.

Reiterating that the Quad remains to be a "force for global good,” the Leaders made the following announcements:

1. Quad Cancer Moonshot: The Quad is launching the historic Quad Cancer Moonshot, a collective effort to leverage public and private resources to reduce the number of lives lost to cancer in the Indo-Pacific, with an initial focus on cervical cancer.

2. Maritime Initiative for Training in the Indo-Pacific (MAITRI): The leaders also announced a new regional Maritime Initiative for Training in the Indo-Pacific (MAITRI) to enable Indo-Pacific parters to maximize tools provided through IPMDA (Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness) and other Quad partner initiatives, to monitor and secure their waters, enforce their laws, and deter unlawful behaviour.

3. Indo-Pacific Logistics Network: Quad Indo-Pacific Logistics Network pilot project was launched to pursue shared airlift capacity among the four nations and leverage collective logistics strengths to support civilian response to natural disasters more rapidly and efficiently across the Indo-Pacific region.

4. Quad-at-Sea Ship Observer Mission: The US Coast Guard, Japan Coast Guard, Australian Border Force, and Indian Coast Guard plan to launch a first-ever Quad-at-Sea Ship Observer Mission in 2025 in the Indo-Pacific to improve interoperability.

5. Quad Ports of the Future Partnership: The initiative will harness the Quad’s expertise to support sustainable and resilient port infrastructure development across the Indo-Pacific, in collaboration with regional partners.

6. Quad Principles for Development and Deployment of Digital Public Infrastructure: The Quad released joint Principles for Development and Deployment of Digital Public Infrastructure, underscoring the group’s commitment to an inclusive, open, sustainable, fair, safe, reliable, and secure digital future to advance shared prosperity and sustainable development.

7. Semiconductor Supply Chains: Quad Leaders welcome the finalisation of a Memorandum of Cooperation for the Semiconductor Supply Chains Contingency Network to facilitate collaboration in addressing semiconductor supply chain risks.

8. Collective Quad effort to boost energy efficiency: The Quad leaders announced an initiative to boost energy efficiency, including the deployment and manufacturing of affordable, high-efficiency, cooling systems, to enable climate-vulnerable communities to adapt to rising temperatures while simultaneously reducing strain on the electricity grid.

9. Space: The four countries plan to continue delivering Earth Observation data and other space-related applications to assist nations across the Indo-Pacific to strengthen climate early warning systems and better manage the impacts of extreme weather events.

The Quad leaders also welcomed India’s establishment of a space-based web portal for Mauritius to support the concept of open science for space-based monitoring of extreme weather events and climate impact.

10. Sub-category under the Quad STEM Fellowship: India announced a new initiative to award fifty Quad scholarships, worth $500,000, to students from the Indo-Pacific to pursue a 4-year undergraduate engineering program at a Government of India-funded technical institution.

The leaders also welcomed the next hosting of the Quad Leaders’ Summit by India in 2025.

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