The sixth quad summit was held in US President Biden's hometown, Wilmington, Delaware as a tribute to him. The summit was a befitting occasion to express goodbye to Biden and Kishida, whose terms of office will end before the next summit in India in 2025. It was also an occasion to understand how India is playing a bigger role integrated into the Quad.

PM Modi is the seniormost leader among the Quad. It was gracious of India to have allowed the US to host the 2024 Summit, which was allotted to India. Now, New Delhi will host the 2025 Summit. It would be a readymade program for the new US president to visit India in their first year. Quad provides India more opportunities to meet with strategic partners annually. The Quad summit is a useful aggregation for India when, for instance, it attends the BRICS summit or holds the annual summit with Russia.

Politically, there are three important takeaways for India from this Quad Summit. First, the US has come around to recognizing that the UN and its security council need reform beyond what the US thought necessary. The Declaration talks about broad-based representation in the UN Security Council and the US is now more ready to support India and Japan.

Secondly, the Quad counter-terrorism working group met for the first time last year and will meet annually. Mitigating terrorism through information sharing, use of unmanned systems and finding new lines of collaboration are all good news for India, which has for long sought the US and its allies to take terrorism threats more seriously.

The third aspect is that without militarising the Quad, India has yet joined in efforts to have common understanding on maritime security. Working through a host of initiatives, Quad is expanding cooperation in maritime domain awareness, collaboration among coastguards, and increasing efforts for quicker and more effective HADR. India is now a clear partner of such Quad initiatives, and not just a recipient of support.

The Quad has positioned itself as a challenge to the Chinese view of the region. It engages ASEAN, the Pacific Islands Forum and the IORA for better and sustainable development. Thus, the Quad supports the free and open Indo-Pacific and check China's aggressive manoeuvres, which is India's aim as well.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/quad-summit-modi-attends-quad-leaders-summit-in-delaware-760818">Watch |&nbsp;Quad Summit: Modi attends Quad Leaders' Summit in Delaware</a>

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There are areas in which India is now directly contributing, and these need to be highlighted. The Quad Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA) has performed well in raising awareness. Information is now collected and shared with greater frequency among the 24 countries who are currently benefiting. The Information Fusion Centre for the Indian Ocean region in Gurugram, India is an indispensable part, particularly in dealing with countries of the IORA, in which India’s leadership is recognised. India will chair IORA in 2025.

India's view of the Indo-Pacific as including the Indian Ocean up to the shores of Africa is now better accepted. The US will work through its Central Command and AFRICOM, with Quad partners in the Indian Ocean and in Africa. A new maritime initiative for training in the Indo-Pacific ‘MAITRI’ will bring capacity-building efforts into the IPMDA. India will contribute trainings under ITEC program to countries in IOR.

The health sector brought vaccine diplomacy and a Quad Health Partnership. India has been at the fulcrum of the vaccine manufacturing. Further efforts to create vaccines for mpox and future pandemics would utilize Indian capabilities. India is contributing to the Cancer Moonshot dealing with cervical cancer. The Serum Institute of India, in partnership with Gavi, will support 40 million HPV vaccine doses. India will provide HPV sampling kits, and cervical cancer vaccines worth $7.5 million to the region. Through its $10 million commitment to the WHO’s Global Initiative on Digital Health, India will offer technical assistance to interested countries for the adoption of its Digital Public Infrastructure that helps in cancer screening.

Infrastructure is an area where the Quad lags China. Various initiatives among India-Japan- US, the Japan-US- Australia or the G7 have not borne much fruit. China's BRI remains the dominant theme for infrastructure development in the 
region. Now the Quad is taking shorter steps towards quality infrastructure and three elements with Indian participation are visible.

Cable connectivity through a resilient partnership tasks Quad countries to provide maritime cable networks away from Chinese control. India has commissioned a feasibility study to determine how maritime cable networks can be facilitated by aggregating maintenance and repair capacities of the Quad partners in the Indo-Pacific. This will prevent vulnerabilities hitting the proposed networks and provide them with durability and reliability.

A Quad Ports of the Future Partnership aims to develop port infrastructure across the Indo-Pacific. This will challenge Chinese domination of new ports in ASEAN countries, in Sri Lanka, Pakistan and in Africa, but would require considerable effort and investment. India will start this with a Quad regional ports and transportation conference in Mumbai in 2025. This would seek commonalities, resources and include the private sector to build effective port infrastructure ahead. The launch of a Quad Indo Pacific logistics network pilot project will support the ports initiative, as well as the HADR efforts.

The Quad infrastructure fellowships have started well and now cover 2200 experts. They will now work more closely with the India-led Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, particularly to enhance power sector resilience.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/pm-modi-meets-biden-from-setting-up-of-semiconductor-plant-to-shoring-up-drone-deal-heres-what-happened-760875">Also read |&nbsp;PM Modi meets Biden: From setting up of semiconductor plant to shoring up drone deal, here's what happened</a>

The Quad is focusing more on critical and emerging technologies and India's interest in this is stoked by the emphasis on semiconductors, where complementarities are leveraged to create competition and add resilience to Quad's semiconductor supply chain.

To support climate and clean energy, India committed to invest $ 2 million in new solar projects in the island countries of Fiji in the South Pacific, and Comoros, Madagascar and Seychelles in the Indian Ocean. The US has provided a $250 million DFC loan to Tata Power Solar to create a solar cell manufacturing facility. A similar loan of $500 billion, to First Solar to build a 3.3 GW solar module manufacturing facility in India is also mentioned in the Wilmington Declaration.&nbsp;

Indian capabilities are now much better leveraged and integrated into the growing Quad functional collaboration matrix. As a developing country, India uses its development cooperation experience to advance Quad as a Global Force for Good.

Disclaimer: The views of the writer do not represent the views of WION or ZMCL. Nor does WION or ZMCL endorse the views of the writer.

The sixth quad summit was held in US President Biden's hometown, Wilmington, Delaware as a tribute to him. The summit was a befitting occasion to express goodbye to Biden and Kishida, whose terms of office will end before the next summit in India in 2025.

The sixth quad summit was held in US President Biden's hometown, Wilmington, Delaware as a tribute to him. The summit was a befitting occasion to express goodbye to Biden and Kishida, whose terms of office will end before the next summit in India in 2025. It was also an occasion to understand how India is playing a bigger role integrated into the Quad. PM Modi is the seniormost leader among the Quad. It was gracious of India to have allowed the US to host the 2024 Summit, which was allotted to India. Now, New Delhi will host the 2025 Summit. It would be a readymade program for the new US president to visit India in their first year. Quad provides India more opportunities to meet with strategic partners annually. The Quad summit is a useful aggregation for India when, for instance, it attends the BRICS summit or holds the annual summit with Russia. Politically, there are three important takeaways for India from this Quad Summit. First, the US has come around to recognizing that the UN and its security council need reform beyond what the US thought necessary. The Declaration talks about broad-based representation in the UN Security Council and the US is now more ready to support India and Japan. Secondly, the Quad counter-terrorism working group met for the first time last year and will meet annually. Mitigating terrorism through information sharing, use of unmanned systems and finding new lines of collaboration are all good news for India, which has for long sought the US and its allies to take terrorism threats more seriously. The third aspect is that without militarising the Quad, India has yet joined in efforts to have common understanding on maritime security. Working through a host of initiatives, Quad is expanding cooperation in maritime domain awareness, collaboration among coastguards, and increasing efforts for quicker and more effective HADR. India is now a clear partner of such Quad initiatives, and not just a recipient of support. The Quad has positioned itself as a challenge to the Chinese view of the region. It engages ASEAN, the Pacific Islands Forum and the IORA for better and sustainable development. Thus, the Quad supports the free and open Indo-Pacific and check China's aggressive manoeuvres, which is India's aim as well. Watch | Quad Summit: Modi attends Quad Leaders' Summit in Delaware × There are areas in which India is now directly contributing, and these need to be highlighted. The Quad Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA) has performed well in raising awareness. Information is now collected and shared with greater frequency among the 24 countries who are currently benefiting. The Information Fusion Centre for the Indian Ocean region in Gurugram, India is an indispensable part, particularly in dealing with countries of the IORA, in which India’s leadership is recognised. India will chair IORA in 2025. India's view of the Indo-Pacific as including the Indian Ocean up to the shores of Africa is now better accepted. The US will work through its Central Command and AFRICOM, with Quad partners in the Indian Ocean and in Africa. A new maritime initiative for training in the Indo-Pacific ‘MAITRI’ will bring capacity-building efforts into the IPMDA. India will contribute trainings under ITEC program to countries in IOR. The health sector brought vaccine diplomacy and a Quad Health Partnership. India has been at the fulcrum of the vaccine manufacturing. Further efforts to create vaccines for mpox and future pandemics would utilize Indian capabilities. India is contributing to the Cancer Moonshot dealing with cervical cancer. The Serum Institute of India, in partnership with Gavi, will support 40 million HPV vaccine doses. India will provide HPV sampling kits, and cervical cancer vaccines worth $7.5 million to the region. Through its $10 million commitment to the WHO’s Global Initiative on Digital Health, India will offer technical assistance to interested countries for the adoption of its Digital Public Infrastructure that helps in cancer screening. Infrastructure is an area where the Quad lags China. Various initiatives among India-Japan- US, the Japan-US- Australia or the G7 have not borne much fruit. China's BRI remains the dominant theme for infrastructure development in the region. Now the Quad is taking shorter steps towards quality infrastructure and three elements with Indian participation are visible. Cable connectivity through a resilient partnership tasks Quad countries to provide maritime cable networks away from Chinese control. India has commissioned a feasibility study to determine how maritime cable networks can be facilitated by aggregating maintenance and repair capacities of the Quad partners in the Indo-Pacific. This will prevent vulnerabilities hitting the proposed networks and provide them with durability and reliability. A Quad Ports of the Future Partnership aims to develop port infrastructure across the Indo-Pacific. This will challenge Chinese domination of new ports in ASEAN countries, in Sri Lanka, Pakistan and in Africa, but would require considerable effort and investment. India will start this with a Quad regional ports and transportation conference in Mumbai in 2025. This would seek commonalities, resources and include the private sector to build effective port infrastructure ahead. The launch of a Quad Indo Pacific logistics network pilot project will support the ports initiative, as well as the HADR efforts. The Quad infrastructure fellowships have started well and now cover 2200 experts. They will now work more closely with the India-led Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, particularly to enhance power sector resilience. Also read | PM Modi meets Biden: From setting up of semiconductor plant to shoring up drone deal, here's what happened The Quad is focusing more on critical and emerging technologies and India's interest in this is stoked by the emphasis on semiconductors, where complementarities are leveraged to create competition and add resilience to Quad's semiconductor supply chain. To support climate and clean energy, India committed to invest $ 2 million in new solar projects in the island countries of Fiji in the South Pacific, and Comoros, Madagascar and Seychelles in the Indian Ocean. The US has provided a $250 million DFC loan to Tata Power Solar to create a solar cell manufacturing facility. A similar loan of $500 billion, to First Solar to build a 3.3 GW solar module manufacturing facility in India is also mentioned in the Wilmington Declaration. Indian capabilities are now much better leveraged and integrated into the growing Quad functional collaboration matrix. As a developing country, India uses its development cooperation experience to advance Quad as a Global Force for Good. Disclaimer: The views of the writer do not represent the views of WION or ZMCL. Nor does WION or ZMCL endorse the views of the writer.

Quad enlarges space for India

A most interesting election for the leadership of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is underway. This will be held on 27 September.&nbsp;

This comes at the end of the three-year term of Fumio Kishida, the president of the LDP. The LDP President becomes the leader of the party in parliament, and since it is in a majority there, he becomes the Prime Minister.&nbsp;

This is the first time that the LDP elections are being held without the presence of Shinzo Abe, who had an overarching influence and a large faction which dominated the politics of the LDP. It is also the first time since Kishida tried to dissolve the LDP factions in an effort to reform the LDP’s internal politics and prevent illegal funding, which was embarrassing the party. &nbsp;

Nine candidates are now in the fray for the presidential election. This is a large number because there is no particular faction backing anybody directly, it seems like a free-for-all. Such a large number have not contested the LDP Presidency since 1966. Nevertheless, three political heavyweights have a say in how the results of this election will possibly emerge. These are current prime minister Fumio Kishida, the previous Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, and the current LDP vice president, Taro Aso.&nbsp;

In the initial round of voting, the 367 LDP parliamentarians each have a vote. They are matched by a vote from 367 ordinary party members. If nobody gets a majority, then the top two would have a runoff election where the vote of the MPs now counts for more. This is because each one of them would still have a vote, but the remaining votes would come as one from each LDP organization in each of Japan's 47 prefectures. At that stage, faction loyalties and role of leaders come into play because back scratching among parliamentarians and their mentors plays a bigger role among MPs and party leaders from the prefectures.&nbsp;

As per current polls, by Nikkei and TV Tokyo held on 15 September, former LDP Secretary General, Shigeru Ishiba, who is also a former defence minister, is leading among ordinary pro-LDP Voters. However, he is often not in sync with the party leaders or their factions. He is closely followed by the more charismatic former Environment Minister, Shinjiro Koizumi, whose father was a well-known Prime Minister, and at 43 is the youngest candidate.&nbsp;

In third place at the moment, is a lady candidate Sanae Takaichi, a former economic security minister who was backed by Abe the last time around. These three are the leading candidates. The remaining six,&nbsp;including Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa from Kishida's faction, as well as Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, also from his faction, are in the running, but not doing as well as the others.

Ishiba is leading with 26% an increase of 8% since the last such poll in August 2024.He is followed by Koizumi, at 20%, down by 3%. Other candidates include Sanae Takaichi, minister for economic security, at third at 16%, followed by Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa at 6%, Digital Transformation Minister Taro Kono at 5% and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi at 5%. Support for Takaichi and Hayashi increased by 5 and 3 % Other candidates are Takayuki Kobayashi, former minister for economic security, at 3%, LDP Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi at 2% and former Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato at 1%. The popularity of non-faction&nbsp;leaders is higher in these polls, but will it hold when the MPs vote for the candidates?&nbsp;

The three leading candidates are not the favourites of Taro Aso, who hopes that Kono, currently languishing, will do better and enter the final runoff. He will have trouble if it is a Koizumi versus Ishiba runoff. Taro Aso may actually prefer Takaichi to either of the other two, and hope that she makes it if his own candidate does not.&nbsp;

Prime Minister Kishida’s choices are also uneven. He is not keeping any of the three leading candidates on his negative list, even though he has faced criticism from them in the past. He is more worried that a victory for Koizumi would enhance the stature of Suga, which would mean a diminishing of Kishida’s post-election stature. Some commentators believe that if Koizumi was to win, Suga would get a high position, either in government or the party, and would have greater influence on government policy.&nbsp;

Therefore, part of the Kishida and Aso’s dislike for Koizumi is because they want to keep Suga under check.&nbsp;

While this jockeying goes on, the popular support for the Kishida cabinet further decreased by 1% from the August survey to 27%. Its disapproval rating also fell similarly to 65%.&nbsp;

The LDP is finding it hard to move from its patronage system of factions. These were in disarray when Abe was assassinated and a non-factional Suga succeeded him but could not last. Kishida was elected by factional adjustments. Kishida lamented the LDP was in its "gravest condition since its foundation" in 1955, drowning in a tsunami of funding scandals.&nbsp;

The people are seeing cleaner politics which responds better to their concerns in the survey the issues of importance to them in the leadership polls, include “inflation measures" chosen by 34%, followed by "pensions" and "the economy in general" at 32% each, and "measures related to child rearing, education and the low birth rate" at 29%. These are the concerns Japanese people have.&nbsp;

Kishida will yet represent Japan at the Quad Summit in Delaware on 22 September. It will be his and Bidens last Quad Summit as well. For the G20 and EAS Summits, Japan is likely to be represented by its new leader in October.&nbsp;

 In foreign policy, issues which will face the next PM are managing and enhancing relations with the U.S. which is Japan's security shield and most important relationship. The US itself is having a momentous Presidential election. The impact on how the US&nbsp;foreign policy may alter is a challenge that the new PM will need to reckon with. The threat of China and its more cohesive exercise in the region with Russia, the North Korean challenge, the developments in Taiwan and to keep up the momentum with South Korea will all be important&nbsp;

The Indo-Pacific in general and India in particular will continue to draw Japanese interest. It is the turn of PM Modi to visit Japan for the bilateral summit and this may happen in 2025 after PM Modi meets the new leader on the sidelines of the EAS or the G20 Summits.

A most interesting election for the leadership of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is underway. This will be held on 27 September. This comes at the end of the three-year term of Fumio Kishida, the president of the LDP.

A most interesting election for the leadership of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is underway. This will be held on 27 September. This comes at the end of the three-year term of Fumio Kishida, the president of the LDP. The LDP President becomes the leader of the party in parliament, and since it is in a majority there, he becomes the Prime Minister. This is the first time that the LDP elections are being held without the presence of Shinzo Abe, who had an overarching influence and a large faction which dominated the politics of the LDP. It is also the first time since Kishida tried to dissolve the LDP factions in an effort to reform the LDP’s internal politics and prevent illegal funding, which was embarrassing the party. Nine candidates are now in the fray for the presidential election. This is a large number because there is no particular faction backing anybody directly, it seems like a free-for-all. Such a large number have not contested the LDP Presidency since 1966. Nevertheless, three political heavyweights have a say in how the results of this election will possibly emerge. These are current prime minister Fumio Kishida, the previous Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, and the current LDP vice president, Taro Aso. In the initial round of voting, the 367 LDP parliamentarians each have a vote. They are matched by a vote from 367 ordinary party members. If nobody gets a majority, then the top two would have a runoff election where the vote of the MPs now counts for more. This is because each one of them would still have a vote, but the remaining votes would come as one from each LDP organization in each of Japan's 47 prefectures. At that stage, faction loyalties and role of leaders come into play because back scratching among parliamentarians and their mentors plays a bigger role among MPs and party leaders from the prefectures. As per current polls, by Nikkei and TV Tokyo held on 15 September, former LDP Secretary General, Shigeru Ishiba, who is also a former defence minister, is leading among ordinary pro-LDP Voters. However, he is often not in sync with the party leaders or their factions. He is closely followed by the more charismatic former Environment Minister, Shinjiro Koizumi, whose father was a well-known Prime Minister, and at 43 is the youngest candidate. In third place at the moment, is a lady candidate Sanae Takaichi, a former economic security minister who was backed by Abe the last time around. These three are the leading candidates. The remaining six, including Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa from Kishida's faction, as well as Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, also from his faction, are in the running, but not doing as well as the others. Ishiba is leading with 26% an increase of 8% since the last such poll in August 2024.He is followed by Koizumi, at 20%, down by 3%. Other candidates include Sanae Takaichi, minister for economic security, at third at 16%, followed by Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa at 6%, Digital Transformation Minister Taro Kono at 5% and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi at 5%. Support for Takaichi and Hayashi increased by 5 and 3 % Other candidates are Takayuki Kobayashi, former minister for economic security, at 3%, LDP Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi at 2% and former Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato at 1%. The popularity of non-faction leaders is higher in these polls, but will it hold when the MPs vote for the candidates? The three leading candidates are not the favourites of Taro Aso, who hopes that Kono, currently languishing, will do better and enter the final runoff. He will have trouble if it is a Koizumi versus Ishiba runoff. Taro Aso may actually prefer Takaichi to either of the other two, and hope that she makes it if his own candidate does not. Prime Minister Kishida’s choices are also uneven. He is not keeping any of the three leading candidates on his negative list, even though he has faced criticism from them in the past. He is more worried that a victory for Koizumi would enhance the stature of Suga, which would mean a diminishing of Kishida’s post-election stature. Some commentators believe that if Koizumi was to win, Suga would get a high position, either in government or the party, and would have greater influence on government policy. Therefore, part of the Kishida and Aso’s dislike for Koizumi is because they want to keep Suga under check. While this jockeying goes on, the popular support for the Kishida cabinet further decreased by 1% from the August survey to 27%. Its disapproval rating also fell similarly to 65%. The LDP is finding it hard to move from its patronage system of factions. These were in disarray when Abe was assassinated and a non-factional Suga succeeded him but could not last. Kishida was elected by factional adjustments. Kishida lamented the LDP was in its "gravest condition since its foundation" in 1955, drowning in a tsunami of funding scandals. The people are seeing cleaner politics which responds better to their concerns in the survey the issues of importance to them in the leadership polls, include “inflation measures" chosen by 34%, followed by "pensions" and "the economy in general" at 32% each, and "measures related to child rearing, education and the low birth rate" at 29%. These are the concerns Japanese people have. Kishida will yet represent Japan at the Quad Summit in Delaware on 22 September. It will be his and Bidens last Quad Summit as well. For the G20 and EAS Summits, Japan is likely to be represented by its new leader in October.  In foreign policy, issues which will face the next PM are managing and enhancing relations with the U.S. which is Japan's security shield and most important relationship. The US itself is having a momentous Presidential election. The impact on how the US foreign policy may alter is a challenge that the new PM will need to reckon with. The threat of China and its more cohesive exercise in the region with Russia, the North Korean challenge, the developments in Taiwan and to keep up the momentum with South Korea will all be important The Indo-Pacific in general and India in particular will continue to draw Japanese interest. It is the turn of PM Modi to visit Japan for the bilateral summit and this may happen in 2025 after PM Modi meets the new leader on the sidelines of the EAS or the G20 Summits.

Emerging change in Japan

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Zee News Rajasthan

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Gurjit Singh

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