(MENAFN- Asia Times)
On July 29, 2024, a follow-up quadrilateral ministerial meeting was held in Tokyo. The Quad gathering of Japanese, American, Australian and Indian foreign ministers was overshadowed in media coverage by the more stimulating US-Japan 2+2 meeting and trilateral meeting of US, Japanese and South Korean defense ministers a day earlier.
Still, in diplomacy, even a meeting for the sake of a meeting can make good Political sense. It can be an important tool for not only cultivating personal contacts but also for maintaining the visibility of institutionalized formats.
So what does the Quad do? The Quad is currently focusing its activities mainly in ten areas, namely:
Addressing
health security challenges, including pandemic response and vaccine distribution.
Promoting initiatives to combat
climate change and promote sustainable development.
Developing
infrastructure projects to enhance connectivity and economic growth.
Enhancing the resilience of
semiconductor supply chains .
Collaborating on
critical and emerging technologies like 5G and AI.
Enhancing
cyber resilience and cooperation to counter cyber threats.
Prioritizing
Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) for providing aid and support during natural disasters and emergencies.
Ensuring the
security of maritime routes and combating illegal activities at sea.
Tackling
misinformation and promoting accurate information.
10. Strengthening efforts to combat terrorism and enhance regional security .
Ukraine war lessons
Notwithstanding friendly Russo-Indian ties, India and its fellow Quad members are learning valuable lessons from Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In modern conflicts, hybrid warfare-which combines military attacks with cyberattacks on vital infrastructure like power plants-is becoming common.
February 2022 saw the start of Russia's actual invasion of Ukraine, although it is thought that over a year before Russia had already gained access to the electricity and telecommunications infrastructure in Ukraine, as well as government agency networks, and was planning sabotage operations.
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