Eyeing China, Quad leaders to expand joint maritime security operations in Indo-Pacific

The leaders of the US, Australia, India and Japan will announce on Saturday an expansion of their joint maritime security operations into the Indian Ocean and closer coastguard integration throughout the Indo-Pacific.

Meeting US President Joe Biden in his home state of Delaware for the fourth in-person summit of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will be showing their resolve to bolster a partnership that Beijing has dismissed.

Against a backdrop of rising tensions in the South and East China seas, particularly between Chinese and Philippine vessels, deliverables from the summit are being watched closely for how much the four countries intend to push back against a more militarily assertive China.

This new agreement will expand the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA), an initiative launched by the Quad in 2022 that allows the members to share satellite and other data among themselves and other Southeast Asian and Pacific Island nations into the Indian Ocean, senior Biden administration officials told reporters.

“In addition to the coverage [IPMDA] is already providing to our partners in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands, to help them monitor their water for illegal fishing and other illegal activities, it will expand that coverage to include the Indian Ocean region thanks to India’s leadership,” one of the officials said.

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