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Thu, Dec 19, 2024 | Jumada al-Aakhirah 18, 1446 | DXB
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Wilmington Summit: Indian PM Modi, Quad leaders announce MoUs, schemes to prioritise Indo-Pacific development
The initiatives include 'Quad Cancer Moonshot', a groundbreaking partnership to save lives in the Indo-Pacific region by combating cervical cancer
US President Joe Biden and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi attend a Cancer Moonshot event at the Quad leaders summit in Claymont, Delaware, US, on Saturday. REUTERS
Terming the Quad as a "force of Global Good" the Quad leaders made a number of announcements to address the development priorities of the Indo-Pacific region and of the global community as a whole.
US President Joe Biden on September 21 hosted Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia, Prime Minister Kishida Fumio of Japan and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Wilmington, Delaware, for the fourth Quad Leaders' Summit. To take the Quad agenda forward, the Quad Leaders adopted the Quad Wilmington Declaration.
This year, the Quad announced executing tangible projects that benefit partner countries across the Indo-Pacific, including in the Pacific, Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean Region.
These include 'Quad Cancer Moonshot', a groundbreaking partnership to save lives in the Indo-Pacific region by combating cervical cancer.
Another initiative announced was the 'Maritime Initiative for Training in the Indo-Pacific' (MAITRI) to enable Indo-Pacific partners to maximise tools provided through IPMDA (Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness). It aims to support the concept of open science for space-based monitoring of extreme weather events and climate impact.
The leaders pledged a collective Quad effort to boost energy efficiency, including the deployment and manufacturing of high-efficiency, affordable cooling systems in the Indo-Pacific region.
An announcement was made for the first 'Quad-at-Sea Ship Observer Mission' in 2025 to improve interoperability and advance maritime safety and the 'Quad Ports of the Future Partnership,' which will harness the Quad's collective expertise to support sustainable and resilient port infrastructure development across the Indo-Pacific.
Quad leaders also announced 'Quad Principles for Development and Deployment of Digital Public Infrastructure' in the region and beyond.
The leaders also announced a "Semiconductor Supply Chains Contingency Network Memorandum of Cooperation" to enhance the resilience of Quad's semiconductor supply chains.
India also announced the 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.
It announced a new sub-category under the Quad STEM Fellowship for students of the Indo-Pacific region to pursue a four-year bachelor's level engineering programme at a Government of India-funded technical institute.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a $5 lakh scholarship for Indo-Pacific students at the Quad leaders summit. This initiative will enable 50 recipients to pursue a four-year undergraduate engineering programme at a Government of India-funded technical institution.
Prime Minister Modi reaffirmed India's commitment to the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad).
During PM Modi's address to the Quad Leaders' Summit held in Delaware, he described the grouping comprising of Australia, India, US and Japan as "Quick Unified Assistance Delivery," and said that the regional body "is here to stay".
During his three-day visit to the United States, PM Modi held bilateral talks with the Quad leaders- President of the US Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida.
While Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida extended support to PM Modi for his initiative to organise Voice of Global South Summits, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese termed India a "predominant power in the Indian Ocean".
The Quad governments said they intend to work with their respective legislatures to deepen interparliamentary exchanges, and encourage other stakeholders to deepen engagement with Quad counterparts.
US Members of Congress announced the creation of a bipartisan, bicameral Congressional Quad Caucus.
In the coming months, Quad Commerce and Industry ministers will meet for the first time.
Quad Leaders also welcomed the leaders of the Quad Development Finance Institutions and Agencies deciding to meet to explore future investments by the four countries in the Indo-Pacific, including in health security, food security, clean energy, and quality infrastructure.
This builds on a previous meeting in 2022 between the heads of the Export Finance Australia, the Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific, India Export-Import Bank, Japan Bank for International Cooperation, and US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC).
In response to the current clade I mpox outbreak, as well as the ongoing clade II mpox outbreak, the Quad said it plans to coordinate efforts to promote equitable access to safe, effective, quality-assured mpox vaccines, including where appropriate expanding vaccine manufacturing in low and middle-income countries.
In 2023, Quad partners announced the first-ever Open RAN deployment in the Pacific, in Palau, to support a secure, resilient, and interconnected telecommunications ecosystem. Since then, the Quad has committed approximately $20 million to this effort. Building on this initiative, the Quad announces an expansion of Open RAN collaboration to deliver trusted technology solutions.
The Quad plans to expand support for ongoing Open RAN field trials and the Asia Open RAN Academy (AORA) in the Philippines, building on the initial $8 million in support that the United States and Japan pledged earlier this year.
In addition, the United States plans to invest over $ 7 million to support the global expansion of AORA, including through establishing a first-of-its-kind Open RAN workforce training initiative at scale in South Asia, in partnership with Indian institutions.
Quad partners also welcome the opportunity to explore additional Open RAN projects in Southeast Asia.
Quad partners will also explore collaborating with the Tuvalu Telecommunications Corporation to ensure the country's readiness for nationwide 5G deployment.
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