Wilmington Declaration: Quad leaders commit to peace, stability, strategic alliance in Indo-Pacific as ‘force for good…’

The Quad countries, consisting Australia, India, Japan and the United States, in their ‘The Wilmington Declaration Joint Statement’ on September 21, said the grouping is “a force for good” and “more strategically aligned than ever”.

The fourth Quad Summit was hosted by US President Joe Biden in his home town of Wilmington, Delaware, and was attended by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Indian PM Narendra Modi, and Japanese PM Fumio Kishida.

Enduring impact for the Indo-Pacific

“Four years since elevating the Quad to a leader-level format, the Quad is more strategically aligned than ever before and is a force for good that delivers real, positive, and enduring impact for the Indo-Pacific,” the Wilmington Declaration stated.

“We celebrate the fact that over just four years, Quad countries have built a vital and enduring regional grouping that will buttress the Indo-Pacific for decades to come. As four leading maritime democracies in the Indo-Pacific, we unequivocally stand for the maintenance of peace and stability across this dynamic region, as an indispensable element of global security and prosperity,” it added.

Peace, Stability in Indo-Pacific Region

The grouping, in a unnamed reference to China, said it “strongly opposed destabilising or unilateral actions” that would upend the region's status quo by force or coercion.

“As four leading maritime democracies in the Indo-Pacific, we unequivocally stand for the maintenance of peace and stability across this dynamic region, as an indispensable element of global security and prosperity. We strongly oppose any destabilizing or unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion,” the statement read.

It also condemned “recent illicit missile launches in the region” and expressed “serious concern” over aggressions in the Indo-Pacific. “We seek a region where no country dominates and no country is dominated—one where all countries are free from coercion, and can exercise their agency to determine their futures. We are united in our commitment to upholding a stable and open international system, with its strong support for human rights, the principle of freedom, rule of law, democratic values, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and peaceful settlement of disputes and prohibition on the threat or use of force in accordance with international law, including the UN Charter,” it added.

Notably, China is engaged in territorial disputes with neighbours both, in the South China Sea and East China Sea, a PTI report noted. The claims are hotly contested by Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

Health Security: Quad Cancer Moonshot

The grouping also announced a health security programme with the Quad Cancer Moonshot.

“Building on the Quad’s successful partnership during the COVID-19 pandemic, our collective investments to address cancer in the region, our scientific and medical capabilities, and contributions from our private and non-profit sectors, we will collaborate with partner nations to reduce the burden of cancer in the region,” it said.

It also announced coordinated efforts “to promote equitable access to safe, effective, quality-assured mpox vaccines” including vacine manufacturing in low and middle-income countries.

The programme will focus initially on combatting cervical cancer—a preventable cancer that continues to claim many lives—in the Indo-Pacific region while laying the groundwork to address other forms of cancer as well.

India's Commitments, & Others

• India has committed to providing Human papillomavirus (HPV) sampling kits, detection kits, and cervical cancer vaccines worth $7.5 million to the Indo-Pacific region. PM Modi announced that this was made under India's vision of ‘One Earth, One Heath’.
• India has also committed $10 million to the WHO’s Global Initiative on Digital Health, and will offer technical assistance to interested countries in the Indo-Pacific region for the adoption and deployment of its Digital Public Infrastructure that helps in cancer screening and care.
• US: The country's Navy medical trainings and professional exchanges around cervical cancer prevention in the region will start in 2025. And the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) is open to finance eligible private sector-driven projects to prevent, diagnose, and treat cancer, including cervical cancer.
• Australia: has announced expansion of the Elimination Partnership in the Indo-Pacific for Cervical Cancer Program (EPICC) of AU$29.6 million, to cover up to 11 countries in the region.
• Japan: is providing medical equipment, including CT and MRI scanners, and other assistance worth approximately $27 million, including in Cambodia, Vietnam, and Timor-Leste, and is contributing to international organizations such as the Gavi Vaccine Alliance.

Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR)

“We welcome Quad governments working to ensure readiness to rapidly respond, including through pre-positioning of essential relief supplies, in the event of a natural disaster; this effort extends from the Indian Ocean region, to Southeast Asia, to the Pacific,” the statement said.

• In May 2024, Quad partners collectively contributed over $5 million in humanitarian assistance after a landslide in Papua New Guinea.
• Quad is working to give over $4 million in humanitarian assistance to Vietnam after Typhoon Yagi.

Maritime Security Measures

The QUAD nations announced a new regional Maritime Initiative for Training in the Indo-Pacific (MAITRI), to enable their partners in the region to maximise tools provided through Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA) and other Quad partner initiatives to monitor and secure their waters, enforce their laws, and deter unlawful behaviour.

“We look forward to India hosting the inaugural MAITRI workshop in 2025. Furthermore, we welcome the launch of a Quad maritime legal dialogue to support efforts to uphold the rules-based maritime order in the Indo-Pacific. In addition, Quad partners intend to layer new technology and data into IPMDA over the coming year to continue to deliver cutting edge capability and information to the region,” the declaration said.

The QUAD nations also announced that the US Coast Guard, Japan Coast Guard, Australian Border Force, and Indian Coast Guard plan to launch a first-ever Quad-at-Sea Ship Observer Mission in 2025, to improve interoperability and advance maritime safety and continue with further missions in future years across the Indo-Pacific.

Quality Infrastructure

They also announced the launch of a Quad Indo-Pacific Logistics Network pilot project to pursue shared airlift capacity among the four nations and leverage the collective logistics strengths to support civilian response to natural disasters more rapidly and efficiently across the Indo-Pacific region.

Announcing the Quad Ports of the Future Partnership, which will harness the grouping's expertise to support sustainable and resilient port infrastructure development across the Indo-Pacific in collaboration with regional partners, the declaration said that they intend to hold a Quad Regional Ports and Transportation Conference, hosted by India in Mumbai.

"Through this new partnership, Quad partners intend to coordinate, exchange information, share best practices with partners in the region, and leverage resources to mobilise government and private sector investments in quality port infrastructure across the Indo-Pacific region," the joint statement said.

Applauding the expansion of the Quad Infrastructure Fellowships to more than 2,200 experts, the declaration noted that Quad partners have already provided well over 1,300 fellowships since the initiative was announced at last year’s Summit.

More Initiatives Announced

• Critical and Emerging Technologies: An ambitious expansion of our partnership to deliver trusted technology solutions to the broader Indo-Pacific region.

“We remain committed to advancing our cooperation on semiconductors through better leveraging of our complementary strengths to realize a diversified and competitive market and enhance resilience of Quad’s semiconductor supply chains. We welcome a Memorandum of Cooperation between Quad countries for the Semiconductor Supply Chains Contingency Network,” it said.

• Climate and Clean Energy: Underscore the severe economic, social, and environmental consequences posed by the climate crisis, we continue to work together with Indo-Pacific partners, including through Quad Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Package (Q-CHAMP), to enhance climate and clean energy cooperation as well as promote adaptation and resilience.
• Cyber: Quad countries intend to enhance our cybersecurity partnership to address common threats posed by state-sponsored actors, cybercriminals, and other non-state malicious actors.
• Space: Recognize the essential contribution of space-related applications and technologies in the Indo-Pacific. Our four countries intend to continue delivering Earth Observation data and other space-related applications to assist nations across the Indo-Pacific to strengthen climate early warning systems and better manage the impacts of extreme weather events.
• Quad Investors Network (QUIN): Welcome private sector initiatives—including the Quad Investors Network (QUIN), which facilitates investments in strategic technologies, including clean energy, semiconductors, critical minerals, and quantum.
• People-to-People Initiatives: The Quad is committed to strengthening the deep and enduring ties between our people, and among our partners. Through the Quad Fellowship, we are building a network of the next generation of science, technology, and policy leaders.

The Quad Leaders' Summit this year was earlier supposed to be held in India, but President Biden was keen to hold the event in his hometown.

The US, Japan, India, and Australia had in 2017 given shape to the long-pending proposal of setting up the “Quad” or the Quadrilateral coalition to counter China's aggressive behaviour in the Indo-Pacific region.

The four-member Quad, or the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, advocates upholding a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific. China claims that the grouping aims to contain its rise.