“Thanks to India’s leadership,” says White House as Quad expands joint maritime security cooperation to Indian Ocean

The Quad Summit on Saturday in Delaware is poised to announce the expansion of their joint maritime security operations in the Indian Ocean and closer coastguard integration throughout the Indo-Pacific.

Leaders of the United States, Australia, India and Japan are set to announce on Saturday the expansion of the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA) initiative from Southeast Asia into the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), the White House said.

The maritime initiative which seeks to keep a check on illegal activities on seas was first launched at the Quad Leaders Summit in Tokyo two years ago.

Thanking India’s leadership, the White House further said that this expansion will help monitor illegal fishing and other illegal activities in waters where China’s influence is growing. The development comes amid rising tensions in the East and South China seas in the face of an increasingly aggressive Chinese military.

A senior Biden administration official, while elaborating on the IPMDA initiative said, “In addition to the coverage, IPMDA is already providing to our partners in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands to help them monitor their water for illegal fishing and other illegal activities. It will also expand that coverage to include the Indian Ocean region, thanks to India’s leadership.”

The White House official said that the initiative “will include new sophisticated technologies to improve the maritime domain picture that our partners are seeing.”

“And third, it will provide new training programmes to ensure that all the partners who are receiving this important project are maximally well positioned to use it,” the official said.

The expectations from the Summit in Wilmington is to demonstrate that the Quad partners are more strategically aligned than they have ever been, that they remain committed to putting real resources behind this effort to provide public goods for the Indo Pacific and most importantly, that the “Quad is here to stay” an US administration official said.

Another White House official informed reporters that the coast guards of Japan, the United States, Australia and India will start carrying with one another’s personnel on their vessels that patrol the Indo-Pacific.

A framework will be announced to coordinate support measures for third-country coastguards to improve their capabilities.

The four countries aim to strengthen the rule-based maritime order by further advancing their cooperation in maritime security.

“What you can expect to see on Coast Guard cooperation coming out of the global leaders summit is …for the first time, a US Coast Guard vessel will welcome Japanese, Australian and Indian counterparts on board that vessel for a period of time in the Indo Pacific, and that that type of cooperation will continue, including on a rotational basis as appropriate, going forward,” the official elaborated.

A bipartisan group of US Senators and members of the US House of Representatives on September 21 announced the formation of a caucus to promote the Quad on the eve of the summit-level meeting in Wilmington.

“The launch of the Quad caucus, demonstrates that Capitol Hill is just as invested in the Quad as we are, and that, on a bipartisan basis, both parties support and understand that the quad will be a fixture of the Indo Pacific for years to come, a US administration official said.

Another significant announcement would be on US President Joe Biden’s ambitious project – the Cancer Moonshot Initiative.

“This year’s announcement is going to showcase contributions by all four Quad countries in combating cervical cancer, which is a preventable form of cancer, and with vaccine screening and increased treatment donated by all these four countries, you’re really going to be able to make a dent in what is the second leading cause of women’s death, a senior White House official added.

The gathering will be the first time as president that Biden has ever asked a foreign leader to visit Wilmington, a reflection of his closeness with each dignitary, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

Biden has also had each prime minister to the White House for official state visits, an honor reserved for the closest allies.

With the hometown summit in Delaware, the White House hopes to project a strong alliance with Indo-Pacific partners, especially at a time when countering China’s rising influence is a top priority for the Biden administration. The joint statement is expected to include stronger language than during previous meetings about the South China Sea and about North Korea’s threats, officials said.

It will be the sixth time the leaders have all met — the fourth time in person — since Biden promoted the “Quad” to the leader level in 2021. This summit would mark Bidens final summit of the “Quad,” an alliance he decided to elevate during his first year in office.

During both group discussions and individual conversations this weekend, Biden is likely to proudly showcase his home, known by aides as “Lake House” because of the manmade lake on its grounds. He expects to share with them significant milestone moments during his career that have been marked there, including where he learned four years ago that he had been elected president.

Originally, it was India’s turn to hold the event this year, but when the dates appeared too close to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the US and India decided to swap responsibilities. India is now scheduled to host the next summit in 2025, raising the possibility that Vice President Kamala Harris, whose mother immigrated from India, would make a significant symbolic return if she is elected in November.