Quad (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue)

The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, an informal strategic forum of the United States, Japan, India, and Australia coordinating on a free and open Indo-Pacific. First convened in 2007, it lapsed and was revived in 2017; leaders held their first summit in March 2021. The Quad is a diplomatic consultative grouping, not a military alliance and not a standing command, though its members conduct the Malabar naval exercise together. It has no treaty, no secretariat, and no collective-defense obligation.