Joe Biden, in his Washington conference, linked the four nations to assure themselves jointly against war, but Indian and Australian objection to the American initiative has kept them apart.
Now the Indian and Australian ministers, disagreeing with the American, feel that the time has come to review their differences, if the Quad is to remain a living alliance. The American minister feels that the Quad has a great role to play in promoting peaceful development of the Pacific, but Indians and Australians fear that its role will become partizan, and therefore want to make sure it does not. The American minister insists that the Quad can remain unbiassed; the other two doubt it. The American minister, arguing from experience, holds that the Quad can remain impartial, because the diverse interests of America, India and Australia are not such as to clash in the Pacific, and because all four nations are actuated by the same pacific desires.
Original dispatch: Can the Quad stay relevant to boost Indo-Pacific security?