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May 29, 2022

No change in Indo-Pacific status quo: QUAD 

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FA Correspondent
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The leaders of the QUAD countries– Australia, India, Japan and the U.S– expressed disapproval of coercive, provocative or unilateral actions that try to change the status quo in the Indo-Pacific.

Issuing a joint statement after their summit in Tokyo, the QUAD was pointing out to China but did not mention the name particularly and also blamed Russia for creating a “tragic crisis” indicating the war in Ukraine.

The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD) is a strategic security dialogue between Australia, India, Japan, and the United States.

The leaders stressed on a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific and committed to the QUAD for action on climate change, building a stronger and more resilient Indo-Pacific region through better economic security, better cybersecurity, better energy security and better environmental-and-health security.

The Quad summit has also discussed Asia’s unilateral changes to the status quo as the world sees Russia-Ukraine in war, North Korea missile issue, and China’s red alert towards Taiwan facing one of the members of QUAD and Indo-Pacific group India facing China as a geopolitical challenge.

The Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness(IPMDA) was also on the center stage at the QUAD summit as it connects existing surveillance centers in India, Singapore, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to share information and monitor activities on the sea.

The leaders also discussed Quad Fellowship, which will sponsor 100 American, Australian, Indian, and Japanese students to study in the U.S. for graduate degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics(STEM) fields.

Meanwhile, according to US administration, the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEFI) is to begin with 13 initial members — U.S., Japan, India, South Korea, Australia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, New Zealand and Brunei which accounts for about 40% of the world’s gross domestic product.