The leaders of the Quad have declared the alliance is “here to stay”, as the four-country dialogue faces the uncertainty of a changing US administration in November.
The United States, Australia, India and Japan have held talks since 2021, to improve cooperation across the Indo-Pacific region with a particular focus on security.
US President Joe Biden raised the prominence of the grouping early in his term in office by starting the leader-level talks.
There are concerns that if Republican nominee Donald Trump wins the presidential election in November, he may not have the same level of commitment to the Quad alliance.
But all four leaders — who met in the US state of Delaware at Joe Biden’s former school this weekend — expressed confidence the forum would remain prominent.
“While challenges will come, the world will change, [but] the Quad is here to stay, I believe, here to stay,” Mr Biden said as he opened the talks.
Asked a short time earlier by the media if the Quad would survive beyond the election in November, he replied: “Way beyond November. Way beyond November.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Joe Biden, and Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met this weekend. (AP: Mark Schiefelbein)
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the Quad’s relatively recent beginnings worked to its advantage.
“Unlike some international forums, the Quad doesn’t have a long history,” he said.
“It’s not defined by tradition, but it also means that it is not confined by it. It means that as it develops, it can evolve.
“And that is, I believe, what is happening.”
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will be the longest-serving leader of the Quad at its next meeting, also forecast a long future for the grouping.
“The Quad is here to stay,” he said.
Joint coast guard operations and expanded vaccine programs
The summit was held at Archmere Academy, the private Catholic prep school Mr Biden and three of his children attended in Claymont, Delaware.
Having raised the prominence of the Quad, Mr Biden seems keen to ensure it remains relevant long beyond his time in office.
Leaning on his personal connections to give gravitas to the event may help shore up its standing and, in turn, his foreign policy legacy.
This weekend’s Quad meeting had an expansive remit with discussions extending well beyond security issues.
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The leaders agreed to step up maritime cooperation, including plans to conduct joint coast guard operations in the Pacific for the first time next year.
A senior US official said this would mean having Quad partners on American ships in the South China Sea.
Mr Albanese said the four countries would have personnel “on perhaps a single vessel”.
“It’s about identifying what’s going on in the maritime areas in these states,” he said, noting illegal fishing and other outlawed activities are taking place.
“It’s very important they’re able to monitor it and this will assist.”
Co-operation on health was also elevated, with the establishment of the Quad Cancer Moonshot Initiative.
Under the initiative, Australia will expand its immunisation program for human papillomavirus (HPV) to prevent cervical cancer in more countries.
The supply of the vaccine will be extended from Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu to include Malaysia, Timor-Leste, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Fiji and Nauru.
In announcing the initiative, Mr Albanese drew a parallel to America’s efforts to put man on the Moon in the 1960s.
“Not because it was easy, but because it was hard. That’s the spirit of this endeavour,” he said.
“All of us know that curing cancer, defeating it once and for all, will be hard.
“But not as hard as the lonely, exhausting, physical and emotional ordeal of diagnosis and treatment.”
