Can Asean continue to ignore the Quad?

A closer look at the Wilmington Declaration shows the four-nation grouping advancing steadily.

- Ravi Velloor

For some time, South-east Asian nations caught up in their own problems have tended to see the growth of the Quad, which groups the US with Australia, Japan and India, as something of an idle curiosity.

If you were a canine dozing in the sunshine, the Quad was a bunch of large mammals having a little swim in the nearby water, something you cocked an eye at but felt no threat from. Creatures that will move away after making a bit of a splash.

Maybe, it is time to take the Quad - formally known as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue - a bit more seriously. Certainly, anybody who thought of singing a dirge for the four-nation group should take a closer look at what was decided at its fourth in-person summit held recently in US President Joe Biden's hometown of Wilmington, Delaware.

The Wilmington Declaration issued at the end of the summit in late September claimed that the Quad "is more strategically aligned than ever before", before going on to say that "anchored by shared values, we seek to uphold the international order based on the rule of law". There is little question what that means, or who the statement takes aim at.

The scoffers may point out that signatories included a lame duck President Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who was on his way out of office. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese are in better political shape.