Quad Plus Dialogue

The Quad Plus Dialogue is held every quarter since 2013 and the Vivekananda International Foundation has been the designated think tank representing India since the inception of this dialogue. Apart from VIF, the other think tanks from Quad members include Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA), Japan; Heritage Foundation, US and Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), Australia. Meetings of this Group are organised on a quarterly basis. The latest round of this meeting was organised virtually on 13 October 2021 and was hosted by The Heritage Foundation. In addition to above mentioned partners, Germany joined as “Plus partner" in this editionand was represented by the Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS) and Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS). Representatives from the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) also addressed the Group and discussed NATO’s engagement in the Indo-Pacific broadly, and with the Quad and Quad-related organizations specifically.

The discussion took stock of recent developments such as the Quad Leaders’ Summit, on 24 September 2021 and the trilateral security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States (AUKUS), among others. All participants welcomed the first in person Quad Leaders’ Summit and appreciated the joint initiatives to advance practical cooperation among the Quad partners to deal with COVID-19 pandemic, produce and supply vaccines; enhance infrastructure; combat climate crisis; and collaborate in emerging technologies, etc.