NOT QUITE A SECURITY ALLIANCE
Mr Trump’s disinterest is not the only issue. Even if the underlying rationale has always been as a potential counterweight to China’s growing maritime strength and reach, the Quad has let that remain unstated.
It has instead been focusing on a non-controversial public goods agenda – disaster response and humanitarian assistance. That includes practical maritime law enforcement cooperation against piracy, drug trafficking, and illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing.
Though they do hold joint naval exercises, including Operation Malabar hosted by India, individual Quad members have been hesitant at various times to upgrade the group into anything resembling a security alliance, mostly not to antagonise China.
India is, in one key respect, the odd one out, in that it is not a treaty ally of any of the other Quad countries. Australia and Japan are both formal allies of the US under separate mutual security agreements. In Japan’s case, the treaty commits the US to defending Japan if attacked.
India certainly has made it clear that it wants to manage its relationship with China, not pick a fight with it. And while New Delhi has been cautious not to offend the Trump administration, it also does not want to fully align with Washington, preferring to maintain agency in its foreign policy.
