At their meeting in New Delhi on May 26, Quad foreign ministers announced a major new maritime security initiative: the Indo-Pacific Maritime Surveillance Collaboration (IPMSC).
The initiative, proposed by India, will initially focus on the Indian Ocean. It will use the latest tracking technologies and satellite data to provide real-time information on the type of vessels operating in the region. In the words of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the initiative aims to leverage the maritime surveillance capabilities of each of the Quad countries to improve information sharing.
The IPMSC complements the existing Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA) initiative, which was launched in Tokyo in April 2022. Through the IPMDA, Quad countries, including India, Japan, Australia and the United States, provide friendly regional countries with technology and training to support shared maritime domain awareness and develop a common operational picture of the Indo-Pacific waters.
At a special press briefing by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, Additional Secretary Nagaraj Naidu explained that the IPMSC provides an “additional layer” that would “complement” the IPMDA.
With specific details on the IPMSC still limited, the initiative appears to be designed to strengthen surveillance coordination and real-time information sharing, including through subject matter expert exchanges and tabletop exercises, among Quad members. Unlike the IPMDA, it is unclear whether the information generated will be shared with partner countries outside the Quad framework. At a press conference in New Delhi, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong explained that the initiative aims to “further engage India, particularly in the Indian Ocean” in maritime surveillance cooperation, noting that such cooperation was already underway between the United States, Japan and Australia.
Without explicitly naming China, the IPMSC’s focus on the Indian Ocean constitutes a clear effort to counter Beijing’s growing maritime assertiveness and maintain the regional status quo. Unsurprisingly, Chinese media reacted strongly against the move, saying it turns “development issues into a bloc competition with clear strategic objectives.” Indian diplomats, however, were quick to express defensive reservations that the initiative in no way reflects the “militarization of the Quad.”
Operationally, as with IPMDA, information collected through IPMSC is unclassified satellite tracking data. Nonetheless, as Indian Ocean security expert Arzan Tarapore pointed out, the initiative can make maritime surveillance cooperation a “routine part of strategic cooperation” by potentially allowing members to use interoperable military technologies, such as P-8 aircraft, to complement ongoing maritime domain awareness efforts. Currently, such cooperation is centered on the Malabar Naval Exercise, which began in 1992 as an Indo-US bilateral exercise but was later expanded to include Japan as a permanent member in 2015 and Australia in 2020. Further supporting coordinated maritime domain surveillance and awareness activities in the Indian Ocean, New Delhi will host the next iteration of the Coast Guard’s Quad-at-Sea Ship Observation Mission.
Despite legitimate concerns over Chinese militarization of the Indian Ocean and involvement in maritime crimes such as illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, for the IPMSC to effectively contribute to regional security, it would need to invest more in strategic membership of countries in the region. Although Quad has invested considerable sums to become a player capable of supporting the development ambitions of countries in the region, many smaller countries, particularly in South Asia, continue to view it as an “exclusive military alliance”. The inclusive aspect will be crucial to reassure partners that the initiative will contribute constructively to regional security, rather than bringing great power competition closer to their territorial waters.
While the IPMSC is a step in the right direction towards greater transparency around maritime activities in the Indian Ocean, the Quad must start with engagements with coastal states to address existing gaps within the IPMDA. Although it was launched in 2022, the initiative is still in its infancy and is limited in geographic terms, being primarily focused on the Pacific and Southeast Asia. While an initiative focused on the Indian Ocean is a welcome development, its effectiveness will be determined by how it can support a democratic culture of information sharing, ensuring that it can attract the participation of all countries in the region over the long term. In its current form, the IPMSC is not suitable to support holistic and robust maritime domain knowledge in the Indian Ocean.