The Quad Plus

The Indo-Pacific is amongst the most important strategic areas in the world today. The four vibrant, committed democracies spanning the Indo-Pacific—India, USA, Japan and Australia have joined hands in a Track II dialogue to discuss their common security interests, including management of the China challenge, in what has come to be known as the Quad. In 2013, The Heritage Foundation, Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF), The Tokyo Foundation and the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) came together in Canberra, Australia to reinvigorate efforts for the Quadrilateral Strategic Dialogue. In an effort to expand the dialogue to other democracies with a strategic stake, scholars from the Philippines and Indonesia were also included. The day-and-a-half Quad Plus Dialogue revolved around several papers prepared by select participants, discussants assigned to critique the papers, and roundtable discussion. The papers, as revised, follow in this volume. The plan of the partner organisations is to continue the dialogue indefinitely on an annual basis and rotate the ‘plus’ role among other democratic stakeholders in the region. This thought-provoking book, with contributions by well-known analysts and experts from the Quad Plus countries, provides insights into the challenges being faced in the Indo-Pacific and the extent of engagement amongst the democracies of the area in meeting them.