Quad signs Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief partnership guidelines
World Affairs25 Sep 2022| A-AA+
In News
The Quad grouping decided to expand their scope of partnership with the signing of Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) partnership guidelines during a ministerial meeting hosted by the US on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.
Major Highlights
The signing took place during the QUAD foreign ministers’ meeting held at the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The HADR partnership was announced during the Quad Leaders’ Tokyo Summit on May 24, 2022 as part of the grouping’s shared vision of free and open Indo-Pacific.
These guidelines trace their origins to the 2004 ad hoc Tsunami Core Group, which sought to strengthen international response during the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami.
These guidelines aim to respond to disasters occurring in the Indo-Pacific region.
The partnership will act as a dedicated framework for QUAD countries and help them boost coordination during disaster response operations.
It will improve the QUAD countries’ capacity and capability, interoperability and operational synergy during the disaster response.
This partnership allows the QUAD alliance to provide joint or coordinated individual assistance in crisis preparation, crisis response or post-crisis review phases of the disaster response.
Quad grouping
Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) is the informal strategic dialogue between India, USA, Japan and Australia with a shared objective to ensure and support a “free, open and prosperous” Indo-Pacific region.
The idea of Quad was first mooted by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2007. However, the idea couldn’t move ahead with Australia pulling out of it, apparently due to Chinese pressure.
In December 2012, Shinzo Abe again floated the concept of Asia’s “Democratic Security Diamond” involving Australia, India, Japan and the US to safeguard the maritime commons from the Indian Ocean to the western Pacific.
In November 2017, India, the US, Australia and Japan gave shape to the long-pending "Quad" Coalition to develop a new strategy to keep the critical sea routes in the Indo-Pacific free of any influence (especially China).
