A recent meeting of the Quad partnership showed that the grouping is still functional despite the de facto suspension of leader-level summits, but it faces strong constraints in turning ambitious coordination frameworks into functional maritime, infrastructure, critical minerals and energy initiatives that blunt Chinese regional influence. The foreign ministers from the four countries in the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) -- the United States, India, Australia and Japan -- announced several new initiatives after meeting in New Delhi on May 26. The most concrete deliverable is a plan to work with Fiji on port infrastructure, marking the Quad's first joint regional infrastructure project and giving the grouping a visible Pacific Islands initiative after years of promising practical alternatives to China-backed infrastructure. The bloc also launched the Indo-Pacific Maritime Surveillance Collaboration, intended to integrate Quad maritime surveillance capabilities, improve real-time information sharing and support a shared operating picture across the wider region,...
