The United States, Japan, Australia and India plan to launch joint patrols to monitor vessels in the Indo-Pacific, diplomatic sources said Sunday, in the latest effort by the Quad group to counter illegal fishing in waters where China's influence is growing.
The plan involving the four countries' coast guards is expected to be included in a joint statement to be issued at a Quad summit next Saturday in the United States, along with projects to improve regional telecommunications and collaborate on steps to tackle cancer, according to the sources.
The gathering in Delaware, US President Joe Biden's home state, will likely be the last Quad summit for Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, both outgoing leaders. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are also set to join.
The Biden administration has been pushing to elevate and institutionalize the Quad, widely seen as a counter to Beijing's increasing military and economic influence in the Indo-Pacific region. The meeting's agreements are intended to help solidify the group's expanding cooperation across successive governments.
The envisaged first ship observer mission could take place next year, with members of the Japan Coast Guard and its Australian and Indian peers boarding a US Coast Guard vessel, according to the sources.
The mission would be aimed at improving interoperability to maintain maritime order based on the rule of law and will continue on a rotational basis, they said.
In recent years, some Southeast Asian nations such as the Philippines and Indonesia have protested to Beijing over Chinese fishing activities in disputed waters of the South China Sea. Japan has similarly expressed concern over what it considers illegal activities by Chinese vessels in its surrounding waters.
Among other areas of cooperation expected to be announced at the upcoming Quad summit is in the deployment in the Pacific of new communications infrastructure, known as Open Radio Access Network, designed to avoid reliance on specific companies' technology to help mitigate supply chain risks.
The focus on the Open RAN issue reflects the Quad members' wariness over China's massive investments in Pacific island nations.
On the medical front, the four-way group plans to launch efforts to address cervical cancer, building on their experience of working together during the coronavirus pandemic. They are also likely to pledge cooperation to support farmers in the region through artificial intelligence and other technology.
At the planned gathering, the leaders are also expected to discuss an idea to hold the first-ever Quad meeting of commerce and industry ministers, the sources said.
The Quad originated in 2004 in response to the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. Efforts to revitalize the grouping have been seen in recent years, with increasing focus on advancing a vision of a "free and open" Indo-Pacific.
After holding the first gathering of Quad foreign ministers in September 2019 in the United States, the White House hosted the first-ever in-person Quad leaders' summit in September 2021.
A joint statement released after the previous Quad summit in Japan in May 2023 said the four nations support their Indo-Pacific partners in "combatting a wide range of illicit maritime activities, including illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing."