Quad Leaders set to unveil economic security initiatives, strategic infrastructure at Manila Summit

India was set to chair the leaders’ summit in 2025, but its efforts to arrange the meeting last year were stymied by lack of clarity on US President Donald Trump’s travel plans.The deliverables expected to be unveiled at the upcoming summit were finalised at the Quad foreign ministers’ meeting on the margins of the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Atlanta on October 31, the people said. The foreign ministers’ meet resulted in several outcomes, including the provision of technical and financial aid worth more than $85 million to back access to trusted artificial intelligence across the Indo-Pacific.Deep DiveAlso Read | US set to host Quad Leaders Summit in Manila next weekEconomic security will remain an area of focus for the Quad, even as the grouping continues its work on critical technologies, maritime domain awareness and strategic infrastructure across the Indo-Pacific, the people said.The people also pointed to the significance of the US hosting the Quad Leaders’ Summit in Manila amidst continuing tensions between China and the Philippines.

Beijing and Manila have had a series of testy exchanges since last month, when the Chinese envoy reacted strongly to Philippine defence secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr’s description of China as a regional “troublemaker”.The envoy responded by saying that the Philippines should be grateful to have a neighbour like China, adding that “if we want to use force, we may easily win”. This was followed by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos saying the remarks sounded “very much like a threat”.Also Read | Quad nations to meet in the Philippines; Marco Rubio says ‘may lead to concrete deliverables’However, there is still lack of clarity on the timing of the Quad Leaders’ Summit, which is expected to be held in the later part of November 17, following the East Asia Summit, the people said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to arrive in Manila in the afternoon of November 16 and leave early on November 18, the people said.The upcoming summit will also mark a departure from such meetings being held only in Quad member states.Rezaul Hasan Laskar is Foreign Editor with the Hindustan Times, which he joined in 2015. He began as a journalist in his hometown of Shillong in northeast India and has worked in newspapers and wire services over the years.

He moved to New Delhi in 1997 and initially focused on defence, national security, Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast, while also working of foreign policy and international relations. He has been part of the media delegation accompanying PMs on foreign visits and has reported from destinations ranging from Tibet to Ukraine.

Between 2007 and 2013, he was the Press Trust of India correspondent in Pakistan, one of only two Indian journalists allowed to report from the country. He extensively covered Pakistan’s domestic politics and the life of the common people, as well as the fallout of the 2008 Mumbai attacks on India-Pakistan relations and the subsequent trial in Pakistan of the suspects involved in the attack.

As part of his reportage in Pakistan, he travelled the breadth of the country, from the Swat Valley to Balochistan. Reza’s first gig in journalism was writing a weekly music column, and music – especially classic rock – remains a keen interest.

He is also a movie buff and a keen photographer.Read More