Holding the Quad summit alongside ASEAN in Manila reflects the grouping's acceptance of ASEAN centrality. Discuss the implications for India's Act East Policy.

The Quad leaders meet in Manila on 17 November 2026, on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit. It is the first Quad summit in a non-member country and the first since 2024 [1]. Meeting on ASEAN's platform rather than in a member capital suggests that the Quad sees itself as working alongside ASEAN-led regional bodies, not replacing them. On balance this strengthens India's Act East Policy.

Manila as a signal of ASEAN centrality

• Venue: meeting alongside the ASEAN Summit, not as a separate event, places the Quad within ASEAN's convening space [1].
• Host: the Philippines, a frontline South China Sea state, hosts a grouping it does not belong to [1].
• Agenda: critical-mineral supply chains, safe energy shipping lanes and attacks on commercial ships [1] are public goods that Southeast Asia also needs.

Positive implications for Act East

• Strategic convergence: Act East places ASEAN at its core. A Quad that respects ASEAN centrality means India need not choose between the two.
• Economic depth: Quad foreign ministers in New Delhi (May 2026) adopted the Critical Minerals Initiative Framework [2]. It aims to mobilise up to $20 billion and includes recycling minerals from e-waste [3]. These projects could be opened to ASEAN partners.
• Connectivity: the Ports of the Future Partnership and the Logistics Network pilot, both from Wilmington [4], could extend to Southeast Asian ports.
• Maritime role: securing sea lanes complements India's SAGAR/MAHASAGAR outlook.

Concerns and limits

• Lower priority: one evening on the sidelines after a two-year gap, with India's 2025 hosting turn lapsed [4][1], signals lower ambition.
• US hedging: Trump goes from Manila to a US–China–Russia trilateral in Shenzhen on 19 November [1]. This worries partners who fear deals struck between great powers.
• ASEAN sensitivities: several members avoid being seen in a China-balancing club. A highly visible Quad presence could complicate India's outreach to them.

Manila thus joins the Quad's practical agenda to ASEAN's convening role, and this reinforces Act East more than it weakens it. India should press for a fixed next host, turn the minerals framework into named projects, and open Quad initiatives to ASEAN partners. A Quad that delivers inclusive public goods around ASEAN would advance a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific while keeping India's strategic autonomy.