Quad seeks free & open Indo-Pacific, pushes back against Chinese assertiveness
Quad foreign ministers reiterated calls for a "free and open Indo-Pacific" while explicitly pushing back against increased Chinese assertiveness in the region
The statement referenced concerns over maritime coercion and contested territorial and maritime claims affecting regional stability
The grouping reaffirmed support for a rules-based order and adherence to international law in the Indo-Pacific maritime domain
The statement was issued amid continued attention to security dynamics in the South China Sea and the wider Indo-Pacific
South China Sea Arbitration — Philippines v. China (2016)
The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) at The Hague delivered a landmark award in July 2016 in a case the Philippines brought against China under UNCLOS, addressing the legal basis of China's expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea.
Key Details
- Ruling delivered on 12 July 2016 by an arbitral tribunal constituted under UNCLOS Annex VII
- Held that China's "nine-dash line" claim to historic rights over most of the South China Sea has no legal basis under UNCLOS, and that none of the disputed features in the Spratlys qualify as islands generating a 200-nautical-mile EEZ
- Found China's large-scale land reclamation and construction on features such as Mischief Reef unlawful, including irreversible damage to coral reef ecosystems
- China rejected the ruling as "null and void" and has not implemented it; the Philippines continues to invoke the award in its diplomatic and legal positioning
The Quad's language on pushing back against "Chinese assertiveness" and backing a "rules-based order" implicitly invokes this ruling as the legal benchmark for maritime claims in the region, even though the Quad's joint statements conventionally avoid naming China directly.
Exercise Malabar — The Quad's Naval Cooperation Track
Malabar is the principal multilateral naval exercise among Quad members, providing the military/interoperability dimension that complements the Quad's diplomatic statements on the Indo-Pacific.
Key Details
- Began in 1992 as a bilateral India-US naval exercise; suspended after India's 1998 nuclear tests and resumed in 2002
- Japan became a regular participant from 2015; Australia rejoined in 2020, making it a four-nation Quad exercise for the first time since a brief 2007 iteration
- Conducted annually, rotating among the Indian Ocean, Pacific and adjoining waters, covering anti-submarine warfare, air defence and maritime domain awareness
- Distinct from the Quad's ministerial and leaders'-level tracks, which focus on diplomatic and economic cooperation rather than joint military operations
Malabar is the concrete operational expression of the posture the Quad ministers' statement describes rhetorically — demonstrating combined naval capability in the same waters where "Chinese assertiveness" is flagged as a concern.
India's Act East Policy and the SAGAR Doctrine
India's own strategic framework for the Indo-Pacific rests on the Act East Policy and the SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) doctrine, both of which underpin India's participation in Quad-related engagement.
Key Details
- The Look East Policy, launched in the early 1990s, was upgraded to the Act East Policy in November 2014, emphasizing deeper economic, strategic and cultural engagement with ASEAN and the wider Indo-Pacific
- SAGAR was articulated by the Government of India in March 2015 during an Indian Ocean Region visit, framing India as a net security provider committed to freedom of navigation and a rules-based maritime order
- SAGAR has since evolved into the broader "MAHASAGAR" framing in India's more recent Indo-Pacific messaging, extending the same principles further into the wider ocean space
- Both frameworks emphasize non-alliance, non-hegemonic cooperation, distinguishing India's approach from a formal treaty alliance even as it participates in the Quad
India's backing for the Quad's stance on pushing back against assertiveness is consistent with, rather than a departure from, these existing doctrines, which have long emphasized freedom of navigation and adherence to international law (including UNCLOS) as the basis for regional order.
- South China Sea Arbitration ruling: 12 July 2016, Permanent Court of Arbitration, under UNCLOS Annex VII
- Exercise Malabar: began 1992 (India-US); four-nation Quad exercise consistently since 2020
- Act East Policy: launched November 2014 (upgrade of the Look East Policy from the early 1990s)
- SAGAR doctrine: articulated March 2015; later extended under the "MAHASAGAR" framing
- Quad members: Australia, India, Japan, United States