The crucial Quad summit in Tokyo kickstarted with the leaders of member countries underlying the importance of Quad grouping and commitment to encourage a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region. Speaking at the Quad summit, PM Modi said mutual trust and determination are giving new hope to democratic principles, adding that Quad has gained world prominence.
In line with this commitment, the Quad has announced the Indo-Pacific partnership for maritime domain awareness (IMPDA). The initiative has been launched to provide a near-real time-integrated and cost-effective maritime domain awareness picture.
The White House has issued a statement, stating that the partnership will innovate upon existing maritime domain awareness efforts, rapidly bringing emerging technologies to bear for the greater good of the Indo-pacific technology.
Some of the characteristics of the partnership include building a faster, wider and more accurate maritime picture, harnessing commercially available data mining existing technologies and extending support for information-sharing across existing regional fusion centres.
The Quad will also be cooperating on disaster risk reduction due to climate change including through India’s Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).
