Assess whether the Quad has moved from a security-focused dialogue to a provider of regional public goods. Illustrate with recent deliverables.

The Quad is an informal grouping of India, the US, Japan and Australia focused on the Indo-Pacific [1]. It began as a strategic dialogue among maritime democracies. Its recent summits, and the Wilmington Declaration (2024) in particular, have added practical projects that many countries can use [2]. So the shift is real, but it is a partial and incomplete one.

Evidence of the shift to public goods

• Disaster logistics: The 2024 Quad Logistics Network pilot pools airlift and logistics capacity for disaster response across the region [2]. This returns to Quad's roots in the 2004 tsunami relief "Core Group".
• Connectivity: The Quad Ports of the Future Partnership backs sustainable and resilient port infrastructure. It gives Indo-Pacific states an alternative to opaque infrastructure finance [2].
• Continuity of agenda: Leaders' joint statements at Tokyo (2022) and Hiroshima (2023) show a steady widening of the agenda beyond defence [3].
• Regional ownership: The 2026 summit sits on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in the Philippines. It is the first summit held in a non-Quad nation, which signals support for ASEAN centrality [1].

Limits: the strategic core persists

• Venue carries security weight: The Philippines is a frontline state in the South China Sea disputes. Meeting in Manila can look like taking sides, which worries the ASEAN states that avoid choosing between the US and China.
• Delivery deficit: Quad has no secretariat. The 2024 pilots went about two years without any leaders' review until Manila [1][2].
• Uncertain institutionalisation: India was due to host the summit in 2025 [2]. That summit never took place, and the format still depends on leaders' schedules [1].
• Scale: The deliverables are still pilots, which is modest next to the region's infrastructure and climate needs.

Assessment: Quad has become a hybrid. A layer of public goods now sits on top of a strategic core. It has not fully changed into something else.

Overall, Quad's agenda has broadened from maritime strategy to ports, logistics and disaster relief, but delivery still lags behind announcements. Manila should fix a host and date for the next summit and review progress on the 2024 projects before launching new ones. India can then link those outcomes to its own Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative. That way Quad becomes a credible supplier of regional public goods, and India keeps its strategic autonomy and the region gets a free and open Indo-Pacific.