How the contours of Quad may change in Trump 2.0

The Quad foreign ministers met shortly after Donald Trump took office at the White House.

- Harsh V Pant Sayantan Haldar

This ministerial meeting was also the first engagement of the United States (US) new secretary of state, Marco Rubio. While speculations were rife about the future of Quad after Trump won the polls earlier last year, the prompt meeting of Quad foreign ministers suggests the grouping is likely to remain a key priority for Trump.

While much of Quad's systematic functioning began during Joe Biden's tenure, Trump also shares credit for the revival of the grouping. Quad began as a group of four countries cooperating to assist humanitarian assistance and disaster relief efforts in the aftermath of the 2002 tsunami in the Indian Ocean but withered soon after hesitations of drawing negative attention from China took to the fore. Later, the compulsions posed by new strategic realities in the Indo-Pacific, primarily driven by China's growing aggression in the region brought the four countries closer. Importantly, Trump's first term had breathed new life into Quad, marking the resumption of dialogue among the four democracies as advocates of a rules-based order at sea, in the Indo-Pacific.

Even within the US, Trump undertook reforms rechristening the erstwhile Pacific Command (PACOM) of the US Armed Forces to Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM), acknowledging the need for a unified security approach.