: Trade focussed Quad (Opinion) #IndiaNEWS #Commentary By Asad MirzaThe first in-person meeting of the leaders of the US, Australia, Japan and India, termed Quad, will be held in Tokyo on Tuesday.

Trade focussed Quad (Opinion) #IndiaNEWS #Commentary
By Asad MirzaThe first in-person meeting of the leaders of the US, Australia, Japan and India, termed Quad, will be held in Tokyo on Tuesday. This is the first in-person summit of these leaders after the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war, worsening Sri Lankan economic crisis, and Australia getting a new Prime Minister.
The security situation in the Indo-Pacific region has changed significantly in the last decade and in the post-pandemic world, it becomes imperative for these partners to further commit to an open, inclusive and resilient region. The primary focus of this alliance is to thwart the increasing Chinese hegemony in the region and globally, both
The Modi-Biden meeting in Tokyo will be the second face-to-face meeting of both the leaders within a year; they met last in September 2021. The meeting assumes increased importance, as it will be the first time the two leaders meet in the midst of the on-going Russia-Ukraine crisis. The leaders are likely to focus on trade and defence opportunities in partnership with other countries in the Indo-Pacific, in the backdrop of the increasing Chinese belligerence; however, this time around Biden may focus more on trade than defence.
Indo-Pacific Economic Framework-IPEF
The new plan unveiled by Biden called the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework-IPEF, which his aides refer to as IPEF, is not a trade agreement in the traditional sense. Though, it includes one pillar related to trade, besides incorporating other key areas like forging more resilient supply chains, an initiative becoming rather the most important one after witnessing the chaos in the global supply chains during the Covid-pandemic, besides promoting clean energy and combating corruption and cyber security.
By focussing on the new framework, Biden has made clear his intention of not re-joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership-TPP, an Obama-era deal, which was not supported by a large number of US lawmakers. Since then the US has been without a defined plan to engage with the south Asian region economically. And in the meanwhile, China has secured several trade agreements with its neighbours, and has sought to wield its economic influence globally through its Belt and Road Initiative.
However, this may require delicately persuading countries to join, not only staunch partners like Japan and South Korea but smaller nations, particularly in Southeast Asia, who arent as closely aligned with the US.
The IPEF rollout is expected to send across a strong signal that the US is focused on pushing forward a strong economic policy for the Indo-Pacific to counter Chinas aggressive strategy on trade in the region. The Indian stand on the new initiative has not been made clear, but there are strong indications that India may join it along with Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan, Singapore and the Philippines.

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