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  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Deputy Secretary-General’s remarks at the local 2030 Coalition Side Event on the occasion of the UN Summit of the Future’s Action Days [as prepared for delivery]

    Source: United Nations secretary general

    SHAPING LOCAL PATHWAYS FOR A MORE EQUITABLE, SUSTAINABLE, AND SECURE FUTURE FOR ALL – ‘LOCALIZING THE PACT FOR THE FUTURE’

    H.E Ms. Eva Granados Galiano, Secretary of State for International Cooperation of Spain
    .E Jader Fontenelle Barbalho Filho, Minister of Cities of Brazil,
    Ugur Ibrahim Altay, President of United Cities and Local Governments,
    Anaclaudia Rossbach, Executive Director of UN-Habitat,
    Excellencies,
    Colleagues,

    I extend my appreciation to the Governments of Spain and Brazil for their invaluable collaboration with UN-Habitat, the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments, and other members of the Local 2030 Steering Committee for organizing this event during the Summit of the Future Action Days.

    Coinciding with the International Day of Peace, we should recognize how local and regional governments often serve as defenders of peace and mediators of peace, protecting people in the context of conflict and providing invaluable support to people on the move.

    Excellencies, colleagues,

    It is no secret that we have a lot of work to do between now and 2030.

    With only 17% of the SDG targets on track to 2030, urgent and transformative action is imperative.

    It is also our commitment following the2023 SDG Summit, when we agreed on transformative and accelerated actions for the SDGs.

    And this is exactly the spirit that guided the creation of the Local2030 Coalition, brings together the UN systems with partners for SDG Localization.

    Under our Coalition, a combined set of actors are championing the SDGs at the local level.

    We are witnessing a diverse range of actors co-creating, incubating and investing in scalable solutions.

    With a projected increase in the global population of 2.4 billion people by 2050, and urban populations reaching 6.5 billion, our capacities to deliver require effective multi-level governance to help us manage the demand for public services, with the financing to ratchet the pace of acceleration.

    As we look ahead to pave the way for a better future, let me stress four points.

    First, work across your networks and with national governments and parliaments to anchor the potential for growth and inclusion around key and urgent transitions –from renewable energy, to green and blue economies, to sustainable food systems.

    Use the Local 2030 Coalition to unlock new opportunities for change.  Through the UN Joint SDG Fund, supported by the Government of Spain, 30 UN Country Teams are already integrating SDG transitions.

    Second, include local leadership, including local governments, and youth in decision-making processes and SDG implementation to drive impact, with measures for accountability.

    Yesterday’s youth Action Day provided tangible opportunities to advance our shared goals and they spoke extensively about that inclusion and what that meant

    Third, create frameworks for collaboration, innovation and investment, ensuring that we measure progress across social, environmental, and economic indicators.  

    The Local2030 Coalition Knowledge and Scientific Network is pioneering evidence-based strategies and capacity-building to support such learning.

    Fourth, advance the recommendations of the Secretary-General’s Advisory Group on Local and Regional governments. A new social contract that is people-centered must foster dialogue, intergenerational conversations and create the space for voices to be heard and acted upon.

    Excellencies,

    Colleagues, dear friends,

    At the Summit of the Future Action Days, youth and civil society activists challenged conventional thinking and spoke for change that leaves no one behind.

    Next year, the 2nd World Social Summit and the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development will demonstrate the power of local transformations aligned to the SDGs.

    COP29 and COP30 will also offer invaluable opportunities to respond to the aspirations of local actors and communities on the frontline of socio-economic and ecological crises.

    The G20 Summit in Rio will also provide a platform this year to champion further reforms, as well as a connection to the urban agenda through the U20.

    The success of the 2030 Agenda will also depend on our collective actions.

    Together, we know we can achieve the SDGs; ensuring that all communities thrive in a future that is just, equitable and sustainable.   

    ***
     

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Deputy Secretary-General’s remarks at the Summit of the Future Action Day – “A Sustainable Future for All” [as prepared for delivery]

    Source: United Nations secretary general

    Excellencies, Distinguished guests, Dear Colleagues,

    Welcome to the Summit of the Future Action Days and thank you for joining us for this session devoted to sustainable development, intergenerational solidarity and the future we can build together.

    We meet at a pivotal time. With only six years to go, the rallying cry of Agenda 2030 – leaving no one behind – has fallen abysmally short. Only 17 percent of our SDG targets are on track.

    Hunger is rising. Fossil fuel use and global temperatures are soaring. Conflicts are spreading. And the fight for gender equality is floundering. Worst of all, our commitment to leave no-one behind – the rallying cry of Agenda 2030 – has fallen short.

    In 2015, the world’s poorest countries were converging on incomes in the richest countries, albeit slowly.

    Today, economic fortunes around the world are diverging.

    Of the world’s poorest 75 countries, a third are poorer today than they were five years ago.     

    This simply cannot go on.

    Over the last 9 months, Member States have been negotiating the Pact for the Future and the state of development today has been at the heart of the discussions;

    Indeed, a Summit that asked Member States to think about emerging and future challenges, from artificial intelligence, to modern weapons, and humans’ forays into space, has prompted reflections on the state of development today:

    How new technologies might supercharge development progress, or create new and lasting inequalities;

    How delivering on our sustainable development goals can renew a sense of trust and build a foundation of global solidarity. that can help us confront new threats together;

    How the need for strong multilateral cooperation to deliver sustainable development in a world increasingly shaped by global shocks and risks.

    Delivering the SDGs is vital, but will require deeper cooperation, especially when it comes to finance.

    Finance is the engine for the SDGs. Yet the SDG financing gap has ballooned over the last several years – and is now estimated at between 3 and 5 trillion dollars a year.

    We need bold investments in all areas including food security, green energy and digital connectivity.

    But the challenge goes beyond a simple problem of dollars and cents.

    The international financial system cannot provide the safety net that many countries – particularly developing countries – need today to pursue the SDGs.  

    On this issue, the Pact of the Future sends an unequivocal message: it’s time for an urgent reform of the international finance architecture.

    To strengthen the voice and representation of developing countries;

    To mobilize far greater levels of financing for the SDGs, and direct that financing to countries most in need;

    To enable countries to borrow sustainably, and with confidence, to invest in their long-term development;

    To provide effective and equal support to countries during systemic shocks;

    And to meet the urgent challenge of climate change.

    Over the next few hours, we will hear about some of the exciting developments already underway, such as reforms to make our multilateral development banks bigger, better and bolder.

    Or proposals for global solidarity levies to help finance underfunded global investments in a way that is fair and transparent. And new ways to boost private investment in the SDGs.

    With bold goals we need bold new ideas. Today’s event is a platform for the brilliant minds on this topic, from stakeholders to experts, to share their ideas.

    We will hear from academics developing new proposals; civil society members working directly with communities; and policymakers navigating policy and regulatory hurdles.

    The ambition and the momentum doesn’t stop today. At next year’s Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, we must take forward this momentum to deliver a new financing framework that can deliver the goals and carry us into the next decade.

    So today, I hope you will join me in a commitment to invest in hope, invest in sustainable development, and invest in a better future for all.

    Thank you.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI USA News: Roadmap For U.S.-India Initiative to Build Safe and Secure Global Clean Energy Supply  Chains

    Source: The White House

    The United States and India share an enduring commitment to deepen our collaboration on issues of shared national and economic security. As an important aspect of our economic growth agendas, we are committed to working together to capture the benefits of the clean energy transition, including the creation of high-quality jobs for our populations, acceleration of clean energy deployment globally, and achievement of global climate goals.

    In support of these objectives, the United States and India intend to elevate and expand bilateral technical, financial, and policy support to expand complementary U.S. and Indian manufacturing capacity for clean energy technologies and components and lay the groundwork for enhanced cooperation in third countries, with a focus on partnerships in Africa. This effort will build on existing clean energy cooperation between the United States and India, including clean energy initiatives launched during Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the United States in 2023, the Strategic Clean Energy Partnership led by the U.S. Department of Energy and Government of India ministries, technical assistance provided by U.S. laboratories, and novel financial platforms such as the Payment Security Mechanism established to support the rapid deployment of electric buses in India. A U.S. and Indian partnership to establish a shared, resilient, and cutting-edge techno-industrial base centered on innovative clean energy manufacturing techniques sets a strong example for the world and positions our countries to lead clean economic development in the 21st century. 

    To launch this partnership, the United States and India are working to unlock USD$1 billion in new multilateral finance through the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) for projects that include catalyzing India’s domestic clean energy supply chain buildout. The funding could support supply-side manufacturing capacity expansion for key technology verticals, focusing on solar, wind, battery, energy grid systems, and high-efficiency air conditioner and ceiling fan supply chains. Over time, we seek to mobilize additional financing into priority clean energy manufacturing sectors that harness public and private financial tools and pioneer innovative financial vehicles to meet the rapid demand for flexible climate finance solutions.

    The United States and India intend to work with relevant government agencies, civil society, U.S. and Indian private sectors, philanthropies, and multilateral development banks to identify a package of pilot projects across the clean energy value chain that meet our eligibility criteria and meaningfully contribute to supply chain expansion and diversification in identified sectors.  The U.S. and Indian governments also pledge to work with industry leaders on the following lines of effort to launch and eventually scale this new partnership: 

    • Identifying near-term investment opportunities to expand manufacturing capacity for specific clean energy supply chain segments, with initial focuses on the following clean energy components:  
    • Solar wafers and wafer manufacturing equipment & next generation solar cells
    • Wind turbine nacelle components
    • Power transmission line components including conductors, cabling, transformers, and next generation technologies
    • Energy storage components including batteries
    • Battery packs for 2- and 3-wheel electric vehicles (EVs) and zero-emission e-bus and truck components
    • High-efficiency air conditioners and ceiling fan components
    • Collaborating with the private sector to scope eligible opportunities in the above supply chain segments and support an initial package of pilot projects, ideally including one project focused on clean energy deployment to Africa.  Additional investments plans and sources of funding can be developed over time. This effort would build on private sector partnerships facilitated by U.S. Development Finance Corporation (DFC) across the solar, wind, battery, and critical minerals sectors to pursue opportunities to finance the manufacture of clean energy components. Such investments may be in scope for India’s Green Transition Fund – which will support renewable energy, storage, and e-mobility investments in India and strengthen demand for localized manufacturing – as well as for Indian private equity fund manager Eversource Capital’s new DFC-supported $900 million fund to invest in clean technologies such as renewable energy, efficient cooling, and electric transportation.
    • Building trilateral relationships with African partners that have stated political commitments to clean energy deployment, focusing on solar and battery storage opportunities. India and the United States can work multilaterally with African partners to pursue high-potential solar and EV deployment opportunities, understand the conditions required for project success, detail the partnerships and financial model for project success, and implement the project. The United States intends to collaborate with Indian companies to explore investment opportunities and facilitate public-private matchmaking expand partnerships with local African manufacturers. DFC and the U.S. Agency for International Development are anchoring this effort by collaborating with India-based International Solar Alliance to deploy solar and EV charging networks near health facilities.
    • Collaborating with each other and industry to consult on policies that will strengthen demand certainty for locally manufactured clean technologies.  The U.S. Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act were historic laws designed to invest in the large-scale deployment of clean energy technologies while also reinvigorating the manufacturing capacity of the United States to appropriately onshore clean energy supply chains. Likewise, India’s Production Linked Incentive Schemes have invested over $4.5 billion to catalyze nascent clean energy manufacturing. However, additional policies are vital to expand and protect these investments in the face of global market dynamics and thin profit margins. Both countries acknowledge the importance of sharing insights on how to design policy frameworks to reduce demand uncertainties and ensure sufficient input materials, technological expertise, finance, and other manufacturing enablers are available and secure.

    This roadmap is intended to serve as a short-term mechanism for driving initial cooperation on projects, to help inform a long-term roadmap including working together to establish a cadence of meetings and milestones this partnership. This roadmap is not intended to give rise to rights or obligations under domestic or international law.

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    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA News: Joint Fact Sheet: The United  States and India Continue to Expand Comprehensive and Global Strategic  Partnership

    Source: The White House

    Today, United States President Joseph R. Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi affirmed that the U.S.-India Comprehensive Global and Strategic Partnership, the defining partnership of the 21st century, is decisively delivering on an ambitious agenda that serves the global good.  The Leaders reflected on a historic period that has seen the United States and India reach unprecedented levels of trust and collaboration.  The Leaders affirmed that the U.S.-India partnership must be anchored in upholding democracy, freedom, the rule of law, human rights, pluralism, and equal opportunities for all as our countries strive to become more perfect unions and meet our shared destiny.  The Leaders commended the progress that has made the U.S.-India Major Defense Partnership a pillar of global security and peace, highlighting the benefits of increased operational coordination, information-sharing, and defense industrial innovation.  President Biden and Prime Minister Modi expressed unrelenting optimism and the utmost confidence that the tireless efforts of our peoples, our civic and private sectors, and our governments to forge deeper bonds have set the U.S.-India partnership on a path toward even greater heights in the decades ahead.
     
    President Biden expressed his immense appreciation for India’s leadership on the world stage, particularly Prime Minister Modi’s leadership in the G-20 and in the Global South and his commitment to strengthen the Quad to ensure a free, open, and prosperous Indo-Pacific. India is at the forefront of efforts to seek solutions to the most pressing challenges, from supporting the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic to addressing the devastating consequences of conflicts around the world. President Biden commended Prime Minister Modi for his historic visits to Poland and Ukraine, the first by an Indian Prime Minister in decades, and for his message of peace and ongoing humanitarian support for Ukraine, including its energy sector, and on the importance of international law, including the UN charter.  The Leaders reaffirmed their support for the freedom of navigation and the protection of commerce, including critical maritime routes in the Middle East where India will assume co-lead in 2025 of the Combined Task Force 150 to work with Combined Maritime Forces to secure sea lanes in the Arabian Sea.  President Biden shared with Prime Minister Modi that the United States supports initiatives to reform global institutions to reflect India’s important voice, including permanent membership for India in a reformed U.N. Security Council.  The Leaders voiced their view that a closer U.S.-India partnership is vital to the success of efforts to build a cleaner, inclusive, more secure, and more prosperous future for the planet.   
     
    President Biden and Prime Minister Modi applauded the success of the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) in deepening and expanding strategic cooperation across key technology sectors, including space, semiconductors, and advanced telecommunications. Both Leaders committed to enhance regular engagements to improve the momentum of collaboration in fields such as artificial intelligence, quantum, biotechnology, and clean energy. They highlighted ongoing efforts to strengthen collaboration with like-minded partners, including through the Quad and a U.S.-India-ROK Trilateral Technology initiative launched earlier this year to build more secure and resilient supply chains for critical industries and ensure we collectively remain at the leading edge of innovation.  The Leaders directed their governments to redouble efforts to address export controls, enhance high technology commerce, and reduce barriers to technology transfer between our two countries, while addressing technology security, including through the India-U.S. Strategic Trade Dialogue.  Leaders also endorsed new mechanisms for deeper cyberspace cooperation through the bilateral cybersecurity dialogue. The Leaders recommitted to expand the manufacturing and deployment of clean energy, including finding opportunities to expand U.S.-India cooperation in solar, wind and nuclear energy and the development of small modular reactor technologies.
     
    Charting a Technology Partnership for the Future
     

    • President Biden and Prime Minister Modi hailed a watershed arrangement to establish a new semiconductor fabrication plant focused on advanced sensing, communication, and power electronics for national security, next generation telecommunications, and green energy applications. The fab, which will be established with the objective of manufacturing infrared, gallium nitride and silicon carbide semiconductors, will be enabled by support from the India Semiconductor Mission as well as a strategic technology partnership between Bharat Semi, 3rdiTech, and the U.S. Space Force.
    • The Leaders praised combined efforts to facilitate resilient, secure, and sustainable semiconductor supply chains including through GlobalFoundries’ (GF) creation of the GF Kolkata Power Center in Kolkata, India that will enhance mutually beneficial linkages in research and development in chip manufacturing and enable game-changing advances for zero and low emission as well as connected vehicles, internet of things devices, AI, and data centers. They noted GF’s plans to explore longer term, cross-border manufacturing and technology partnerships with India which will deliver high-quality jobs in both of our countries.  They also celebrated the new strategic partnership between the U.S. Department of State and the India Semiconductor Mission, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology in connection with the International Technology Security and Innovation (ITSI) Fund. 
    • The Leaders welcomed steps our industry is taking to build safe, secure, and resilient supply chains for U.S., Indian, and international automotive markets, including through Ford Motor Company’s submission of a Letter of Intent to utilize its Chennai plant to manufacture for export to global markets.  
    • The Leaders welcomed progress toward the first joint effort by NASA and ISRO to conduct scientific research onboard the International Space Station in 2025. They appreciated the initiatives and exchange of ideas under the Civil Space Joint Working Group and expressed hope that its next meeting in early 2025 will open additional avenues of cooperation.  They pledged to pursue opportunities to deepen joint innovation and strategic collaborations, including by exploring new platforms in civil and commercial space domains.  
    • The Leaders also welcomed efforts to enhance collaboration between our research and development ecosystems. The Leaders also welcomed efforts to enhance collaboration between our research and development ecosystems. The Leaders also welcomed efforts to enhance collaboration between our research and development ecosystems.  They plan to mobilize up to $90+ million in U.S. and Indian government funding over the next five years for the U.S.-India Global Challenges Institute to support high-impact R&D partnerships between U.S. and Indian universities and research institutions, including through identifying options to implement the Statement of Intent signed at the June 2024 iCET meeting.  The Leaders also welcomed the launch of a new U.S.-India Advanced Materials R&D Forum to expand collaboration between American and Indian universities, national laboratories, and private sector researchers. The Leaders also welcomed the launch of a new U.S.-India Advanced Materials R&D Forum to expand collaboration between American and Indian universities, national laboratories, and private sector researchers. 
    • The Leaders announced the selection of 11 funding awards between the National Science Foundation and India’s Department of Science and Technology, supported by a combined $5+ million grant to enable joint U.S.-India research projects in areas such as next-generation telecommunications, connected vehicles, machine learning.  The Leaders announced the award of 12 funding awards under the National Science Foundation and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, research collaboration with a combined outlay of nearly $10 million to enable joint U.S.-India basic and applied research in the areas of semiconductors, next generation communication systems, sustainability & green technologies and intelligent transportation systems.  Furthermore, NSF and MeitY are exploring new opportunities for research collaboration to enhance and synergize the basic and applied research ecosystem on both sides.
    • The Leaders celebrated that India’s Department of Biotechnology (DBT) along with National Science Foundation of the United States announced the first joint call for collaborative research projects in February 2024 to address complex scientific challenges and innovate novel solutions that leverage advances in synthetic and engineering biology, systems and computational biology, and other associated fields that are foundational to developing future biomanufacturing solutions and advance the bioeconomy. Under the first call for proposals, joint research teams responded enthusiastically and results are likely to be announced by the end of 2024.
    • The Leaders also highlighted additional cooperation we are building across artificial intelligence (AI), quantum, and other critical technology areas. They highlighted the second convening of the U.S.-India Quantum Coordination Mechanism in Washington in August and welcomed the announcement of seventeen new awards for binational research and development cooperation on artificial intelligence and quantum via the U.S.-India Science and Technology Endowment Fund (IUSSTF).  They welcomed new private sector cooperation on emerging technologies, such as through IBM’s recent conclusion of memoranda of understanding with the Government of India, which will enable IBM’s watsonx platform on India’s Airawat supercomputer and drive new AI innovation opportunities, enhance R&D collaboration on advanced semiconductor processors, and increase support for India’s National Quantum Mission. 
    • The Leaders commended ongoing efforts to build more expansive cooperation around 5G deployment and next-generation telecommunications; this includes the U.S. Agency for International Development’s plans to expand the Asia Open RAN Academy with an initial $7 million investment to grow this workforce training initiative worldwide, including in South Asia with Indian institutions.
    • The Leaders welcomed progress since the November 2023 signing of an MOU between the Commerce Department and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to enhance the two countries’ innovation ecosystems under the “Innovation Handshake” agenda.  Since then, the two sides have convened two industry roundtables in the U.S. and India to bring together startups, private equity and venture capital firms, corporate investment departments, and government officials to forge connections and to accelerate investment in innovation.

    Powering a Next Generation Defense Partnership

    • President Biden welcomed the progress towards India concluding procurement of 31 General Atomics MQ-9B (16 Sky Guardian and 15 Sea Guardian) remotely piloted aircraft and their associated equipment, which will enhance the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities of India’s armed forces across all domains. 
    • The Leaders recognized the remarkable progress under the U.S.-India Defense Industrial Cooperation Roadmap, including ongoing collaboration to advance priority co-production arrangements for jet engines, munitions, and ground mobility systems.  They also welcomed efforts to expand defense industrial partnerships, including the teaming of Liquid Robotics and Sagar Defence Engineering for the co-development and co-production of unmanned surface vehicle systems that strengthen undersea and maritime domain awareness. The Leaders applauded the recent conclusion of the Security of Supply Arrangement (SOSA), enhancing the mutual supply of defense goods and services. Both Leaders committed to advance ongoing discussions on aligning their respective defense procurement systems to further enable the reciprocal supply of defense goods and services.
    • President Biden welcomed India’s decision to set a uniform Goods and Services Tax (GST) of 5 percent on the maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) sector, including on all aircraft and aircraft engine parts thereby simplifying the tax structure and paving the way for building a strong ecosystem for MRO services in India. The Leaders also encouraged the industry to foster collaboration and drive innovation to support India’s efforts to become a leading aviation hub.  The Leaders welcomed commitments from U.S. industry to further increase India’s MRO capabilities, including for the repair of aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles.
    • The Leaders hailed the teaming agreement on the C-130J Super Hercules aircraft recently signed between Lockheed Martin and Tata Advanced Systems Limited, the two companies that co-chair the U.S.-India CEO Forum.  Building on longstanding industry cooperation, this agreement will establish a new Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility in India to support the readiness of the Indian fleet and global partners who operate the C-130 Super Hercules aircraft.  This marks a significant step in U.S.-India defense and aerospace cooperation and reflects the two sides’ deepening strategic and technology partnership ties.
    • The Leaders lauded the growing defense innovation collaboration between our governments, businesses, and academic institutions fostered by the India-U.S. Defense Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X) initiative launched in 2023, and noted progress achieved during the third INDUS-X Summit in Silicon Valley earlier this month. They welcomed the enhanced collaboration between the Indian Ministry of Defence’s Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) and US Department of Defence’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) through the Memorandum of Understanding signed at the Silicon Valley Summit. The efforts via the INDUSWERX consortium to facilitate pathways for defense and dual-use companies in the INDUS-X network to access premier testing ranges in both countries, were appreciated.
    • The Leaders also recognized the clear fulfillment of the shared goal to build a defense innovation bridge under INDUS-X through the launch of “joint challenges” designed by the U.S. DoD’S DIU and the Indian MoD’s Defence Innovation Organization (DIO).  In 2024, our governments have separately awarded $1+ million to U.S. and Indian companies that developed technologies focused on undersea communications and maritime intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR).  Building on this success, a new challenge was announced at the most recent INDUS-X Summit that focused on Space Situational Awareness (SSA) in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO).  
    • The Leaders welcomed ongoing efforts to deepen our military partnership and interoperability to maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific, noting that India hosted our most complex, largest bilateral, tri-service exercise to date during the March 2024 TIGER TRIUMPH exercise.  They also welcomed the inclusion of new technologies and capabilities, including a first-ever demonstration of the Javelin and Stryker systems in India, on the margins of the ongoing bilateral Army YUDH ABHYAS exercise. 
    • The Leaders welcomed the conclusion of the Memorandum of Agreement regarding the Deployment of Liaison Officers, and the commencement of deployment process of the first Liaison Officer from India in US Special Operations Command (SOCOM).
    • The Leaders commended work to advance cooperation in advanced domains, including space and cyber, and looked forward towards the November 2024 bilateral cyber engagement to enhance the U.S.-India cyber cooperation framework. Areas of new cooperation will include threat information sharing, cybersecurity training, and collaboration on vulnerability mitigation in energy and telecommunications networks. The Leaders also noted the second U.S.-India Advanced Domains Defense Dialogue in May 2024, which included the first-ever bilateral defense space table-top exercise. 

    Catalyzing the Clean Energy Transition

    • President Biden and Prime Minister Modi welcomed the U.S.-India Roadmap to Build Safe and Secure Global Clean Energy Supply Chains, which launched a new initiative to accelerate the expansion of safe and secure clean energy supply chains through U.S. and Indian manufacturing of clean energy technologies and components.  In its initial phase, the U.S. and India would work together to unlock $1 billion of multilateral financing to support projects across the clean energy value chain for renewable energy, energy storage, power grid and transmission technologies, high efficiency cooling systems, zero emission vehicles, and other emerging clean technologies.
    • The Leaders also highlighted the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC)’s partnership with India’s private sector to expand clean energy manufacturing and diversify supply chains.  To date, DFC has extended a $250 million loan to Tata Power Solar to construct a solar cell manufacturing facility and a $500 million loan to First Solar to construct and operate a solar module manufacturing facility in India.
    • The Leaders lauded the strong collaboration under the Strategic Clean Energy Partnership (SCEP), most recently convened on September 16, 2024 in Washington DC to strengthen energy security, create opportunities for clean energy innovation, address climate change and create employment generation opportunities, including through capacity building, and collaboration between industry and R&D.
    • The Leaders welcomed collaboration on a new National Center for Hydrogen Safety in India and affirmed their intent to utilize the new Renewable Energy Technology Action Platform (RETAP) to enhance collaboration on clean energy manufacturing and global supply chains, including through public-private task forces on hydrogen and energy storage.
    • The Leaders also announced a new Memorandum of Cooperation between the U.S. Agency for International Development and the International Solar Alliance aimed at promoting more responsive and sustainable power systems that leverage diverse renewable energy sources. 
    • The Leaders reaffirmed their commitment to accelerate the development of diverse and sustainable supply chains for critical minerals under the Minerals Security Partnership targeting strategic projects along the value chain.  The Leaders looked forward to the signing of the Critical Minerals Memorandum of Understanding at the forthcoming U.S.-India Commercial Dialogue and pledged to hasten bilateral collaboration to secure resilient critical minerals supply chains through enhanced technical assistance and greater commercial cooperation.
    • The Leaders welcomed the progress made on joint efforts since 2023 for India to work toward IEA membership in accordance with the provisions of the Agreement on an International Energy Program.
    • The two Leaders reaffirmed their commitment to accelerating the manufacturing and deployment of renewable energy, battery storage and emerging clean technology in India. They welcomed the ongoing progress between India’s National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation to provide up to $500 million each to anchor the Green Transition Fund as well as encourage private sector investors to match these efforts. Both sides look forward to the expeditious operationalization of the Green Transition Fund.

    Empowering Future Generations and Promoting Global Health and Development

    • The Leaders welcomed India’s signature and ratification of the Agreements under Pillar III, Pillar IV and the overarching Agreement on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF). The Leaders underscored that IPEF seeks to advance resilience, sustainability, inclusiveness, economic growth, fairness, and competitiveness of the economies of its signatories. They noted the economic diversity of the 14 IPEF partners that represents 40 percent of global GDP and 28 percent of global goods and services trade.
    • President Biden and Prime Minister Modi celebrated the new U.S.-India Drug Policy Framework for the 21st Century and its accompanying Memorandum of Understanding, which will deepen collaboration to disrupt the illicit production and international trafficking of synthetic drugs and precursor chemicals, and deepen a holistic public health partnership. 
    • The two Leaders signaled their commitment to the objectives of the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drugs Threats and work towards combatting the threat of synthetic drugs and their precursors through mutually agreed initiatives to promote public health through coordinated actions.
    • The Leaders applauded the first-ever U.S.-India Cancer Dialogue held in August 2024, which brought together experts from both countries to increase research and development to accelerate the rate of progress against cancer.  The Leaders applauded the recently launched Bio5 partnership between the United States, India, ROK, Japan, and the EU, driving closer cooperation on pharmaceutical supply chains.  The Leaders applauded the Development Finance Corporation’s $50 million loan to Indian company Panacea Biotech to manufacture hexavalent (six-in-one) vaccines for children, reaffirming our joint commitment to advance shared global health priorities, including bolstering support for primary healthcare.
    • The leaders welcomed the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Small Business Administration for promoting cooperation between U.S. and Indian small and medium-size enterprises by improving their participation in the global market place through capacity building workshops in areas such as trade and export finance, technology and digital trade, green economy and trade facilitation. The MoU also provides for the joint conduct of programs for women entrepreneurs to empower them and facilitate trade partnership between women-owned small businesses of the two countries.  The Leaders celebrated that, since the June 2023 State visit, the Development Finance Corporation has invested $177 million across eight projects to support Indian small businesses and drive economic growth.
    • The Leaders welcomed enhanced cooperation on agriculture between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and India’s Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, in areas such as climate-smart agriculture, agriculture productivity growth, agriculture innovation, and sharing best practices related to crop risk protection and agriculture credit. The two sides will also enhance cooperation with the private sector through discussions on regulatory issues and innovation to enhance bilateral trade.
    • The Leaders welcomed the formal launch of the new U.S.-India Global Digital Development Partnership, which aims to bring together U.S. and Indian private sector companies, technology and resources to deploy the responsible use of emerging digital technologies in Asia and Africa.
    • The Leaders welcomed strengthened trilateral cooperation with Tanzania through the Triangular Development Partnership, led by the U.S. Agency for International Development and India’s Development Partnership Administration to jointly address global development challenges and foster prosperity in the Indo-Pacific. The partnership focuses on advancing renewable energy projects, including solar energy, to enhance energy infrastructure and access in Tanzania, thereby bolstering energy cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.  They also desired to explore the expansion of the triangular development partnership in areas of health cooperation, particularly for critical technical areas of mutual interest including digital health and capacity building of nurses and other frontline health workers.
    • The Leaders acknowledged the July 2024 signing of a bilateral Cultural Property Agreement that will facilitate implementation of the 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export, and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property.  The agreement marked the culmination of years of diligent work by experts from both countries and fulfills President Biden’s and Prime Minister Modi’s commitment to enhance cooperation to protect cultural heritage highlighted in the joint statement when they met in June 2023. In this context, the leaders welcomed the repatriation of 297 Indian antiquities from the U.S. to India in 2024.
    • The Leaders look forward to building on India’s ambitious G20 presidency to deliver on shared priorities for the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Rio de Janeiro, including: bigger, better, and more effective MDBs, including by following through on Leaders’ pledges in New Delhi to boost the World Bank’s capacity to help developing countries address global challenges, while recognizing the imperative of achieving the sustainable development goals; a more predictable, orderly, timely and coordinated sovereign debt restructuring process; and a pathway to growth for high-ambition developing countries that are facing financing challenges amid mounting debt burdens by increasing access to finance and unlocking fiscal space taking into account country specific circumstances.

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    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: The Wilmington Declaration Joint Statement from the Leaders of Australia, India, Japan, and the United  States

    US Senate News:

    Source: The White House
    Today, we—Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, Prime Minister Kishida Fumio of Japan, and President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. of the United States—met for the fourth in-person Quad Leaders Summit, hosted by President Biden in Wilmington, Delaware.
    Four years since elevating the Quad to a leader-level format, the Quad is more strategically aligned than ever before and is a force for good that delivers real, positive, and enduring impact for the Indo-Pacific. We celebrate the fact that over just four years, Quad countries have built a vital and enduring regional grouping that will buttress the Indo-Pacific for decades to come.
    Anchored by shared values, we seek to uphold the international order based on the rule of law. Together we represent nearly two billion people and over one-third of global gross domestic product. We reaffirm our steadfast commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific that is inclusive and resilient. Through our cooperation, the Quad is harnessing all of our collective strengths and resources, from governments to the private sector to people-to-people relationships, to support the region’s sustainable development, stability, and prosperity by delivering tangible benefits to the people of the Indo-Pacific.
    As four leading maritime democracies in the Indo-Pacific, we unequivocally stand for the maintenance of peace and stability across this dynamic region, as an indispensable element of global security and prosperity. We strongly oppose any destabilizing or unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion. We condemn recent illicit missile launches in the region that violate UN Security Council resolutions. We express serious concern over recent dangerous and aggressive actions in the maritime domain. We seek a region where no country dominates and no country is dominated—one where all countries are free from coercion, and can exercise their agency to determine their futures. We are united in our commitment to upholding a stable and open international system, with its strong support for human rights, the principle of freedom, rule of law, democratic values, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and peaceful settlement of disputes and prohibition on the threat or use of force in accordance with international law, including the UN Charter.
    Reflecting the Vision Statement issued by Leaders at the 2023 Quad Summit, we are and will continue to be transparent in what we do. Respect for the leadership of regional institutions, including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), and the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), is and will remain at the center of the Quad’s efforts.
    A Global Force for Good
    Health Security
    The COVID-19 pandemic reminded the world how important health security is to our societies, our economies, and the stability of our region. In 2021 and 2022, the Quad came together to deliver more than 400 million safe and effective COVID-19 doses to Indo-Pacific countries and almost 800 million vaccines globally, and provided $5.6 billion to the COVAX Advance Market Commitment for vaccine supply to low and middle-income countries. In 2023, we announced the Quad Health Security Partnership, through which the Quad continues to deliver for partners across the region, including through the delivery of pandemic preparedness training.
    In response to the current clade I mpox outbreak, as well as the ongoing clade II mpox outbreak, we plan to coordinate our efforts to promote equitable access to safe, effective, quality-assured mpox vaccines, including where appropriate expanding vaccine manufacturing in low and middle-income countries.
    Today we are proud to announce the Quad Cancer Moonshot, a groundbreaking partnership to save lives in the Indo-Pacific region. Building on the Quad’s successful partnership during the COVID-19 pandemic, our collective investments to address cancer in the region, our scientific and medical capabilities, and contributions from our private and non-profit sectors, we will collaborate with partner nations to reduce the burden of cancer in the region.
    The Quad Cancer Moonshot will focus initially on combatting cervical cancer—a preventable cancer that continues to claim too many lives—in the Indo-Pacific region, while laying the groundwork to address other forms of cancer as well. The United States intends to support this initiative, including through U.S. Navy medical trainings and professional exchanges around cervical cancer prevention in the region starting in 2025, and through U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) openness to finance eligible private sector-driven projects to prevent, diagnose, and treat cancer, including cervical cancer. Australia is announcing the expansion of the Elimination Partnership in the Indo-Pacific for Cervical Cancer Program (EPICC) with support of the Australian Government and the Minderoo Foundation to AUD 29.6 million, to cover up to eleven countries in the Indo-Pacific in helping advance the elimination of cervical cancer and support complementary initiatives focused on cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. India commits to providing HPV sampling kits, detection kits, and cervical cancer vaccines worth $7.5 million to the Indo-Pacific region.  India, through its $10 million commitment to the WHO’s Global Initiative on Digital Health, will offer technical assistance to interested countries in the Indo-Pacific region for the adoption and deployment of its Digital Public Infrastructure that helps in cancer screening and care. Japan is providing medical equipment, including CT and MRI scanners, and other assistance worth approximately $27 million, including in Cambodia, Vietnam, and Timor-Leste, and is contributing to international organizations such as the Gavi Vaccine Alliance. Quad partners also intend to work, within respective national contexts, to collaborate in advancing research and development in the area of cancer and to increase private sector and non-governmental sector activities in support of reducing the burden of cervical cancer in the region. We welcome a number of new, ambitious commitments from non-governmental institutions, including the Serum Institute of India, in partnership with Gavi, which will support orders of up to 40 million HPV vaccine doses, subject to necessary approvals, for the Indo-Pacific region, and which may be increased consistent with demand. We also welcome a new $100 million commitment from Women’s Health and Empowerment Network to address cervical cancer in Southeast Asia.
    Altogether, our scientific experts assess that the Quad Cancer Moonshot will save hundreds of thousands of lives over the coming decades.
    Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR)
    Twenty years since the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, when the Quad first came together to surge humanitarian assistance, we continue to respond to the vulnerabilities caused by natural disasters in the Indo-Pacific. In 2022, the Quad established the “Quad Partnership on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief in the Indo-Pacific” and signed Guidelines for the Quad Partnership on HADR in the Indo-Pacific, which enable Quad countries to rapidly coordinate in the face of natural disasters. We welcome Quad governments working to ensure readiness to rapidly respond, including through pre-positioning of essential relief supplies, in the event of a natural disaster; this effort extends from the Indian Ocean region, to Southeast Asia, to the Pacific.
    In May 2024, following a tragic landslide in Papua New Guinea, Quad partners collectively contributed over $5 million in humanitarian assistance. Quad partners are working together to provide over $4 million in humanitarian assistance to support the people of Vietnam in light of the devastating consequences of Typhoon Yagi. The Quad continues to support partners in the region in their longer-term resiliency efforts.
    Maritime Security
    In 2022, we announced the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA) to offer near-real-time, integrated, and cost-effective maritime domain awareness information to partners in the region. Since then, in consultation with partners, we have successfully scaled the program across the Indo-Pacific region—through the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency, with partners in Southeast Asia, to the Information Fusion Center—Indian Ocean Region, Gurugram. In doing so, the Quad has helped well over two dozen countries access dark vessel maritime domain awareness data, so they can better monitor the activities in their exclusive economic zones—including unlawful activity. Australia commits to boosting its cooperation with the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency to enhance regional maritime domain awareness in the Pacific through satellite data, training, and capacity building.
    Today we are announcing a new regional Maritime Initiative for Training in the Indo-Pacific (MAITRI), to enable our partners in the region to maximize tools provided through IPMDA and other Quad partner initiatives, to monitor and secure their waters, enforce their laws, and deter unlawful behavior. We look forward to India hosting the inaugural MAITRI workshop in 2025. Furthermore, we welcome the launch of a Quad maritime legal dialogue to support efforts to uphold the rules-based maritime order in the Indo-Pacific. In addition, Quad partners intend to layer new technology and data into IPMDA over the coming year, to continue to deliver cutting edge capability and information to the region.
    We are also announcing today that the U.S. Coast Guard, Japan Coast Guard, Australian Border Force, and Indian Coast Guard, plan to launch a first-ever Quad-at-Sea Ship Observer Mission in 2025, to improve interoperability and advance maritime safety, and continuing with further missions in future years across the Indo-Pacific.  
    We also announce today the launch of a Quad Indo-Pacific Logistics Network pilot project, to pursue shared airlift capacity among our nations and leverage our collective logistics strengths, in order to support civilian response to natural disasters more rapidly and efficiently across the Indo-Pacific region.
    Quality Infrastructure
    The Quad remains committed to improving the region’s connectivity through the development of quality, resilient infrastructure.
    We are pleased to announce the Quad Ports of the Future Partnership, which will harness the Quad’s expertise to support sustainable and resilient port infrastructure development across the Indo-Pacific, in collaboration with regional partners. In 2025, we intend to hold a Quad Regional Ports and Transportation Conference, hosted by India in Mumbai. Through this new partnership, Quad partners intend to coordinate, exchange information, share best practices with partners in the region, and leverage resources to mobilize government and private sector investments in quality port infrastructure across the Indo-Pacific region.
    We applaud the expansion of the Quad Infrastructure Fellowships to more than 2,200 experts, and note that Quad partners have already provided well over 1,300 fellowships since the initiative was announced at last year’s Summit. We also appreciate the workshop organized by the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure in India, working to empower partners across the Indo-Pacific to strengthen power sector resilience.
    Through the Quad Partnership for Cable Connectivity and Resilience, we continue to support and strengthen quality undersea cable networks in the Indo-Pacific, the capacity, durability, and reliability of which are inextricably linked to the security and prosperity of the region and the world. In support of these efforts, Australia launched the Cable Connectivity and Resilience Centre in July, which is delivering workshops and policy and regulatory assistance in response to requests from across the region. Japan will extend technical cooperation to improve public ICT infrastructure management capacity for an undersea cable in Nauru and Kiribati. The United States has conducted over 1,300 capacity building trainings for telecommunication officials and executives from 25 countries in the Indo-Pacific; today the U.S. announces its intent, working with Congress, to invest an additional $3.4 million to extend and expand this training program.
    Investments in cable projects by Quad partners will help support all Pacific island countries in achieving primary telecommunication cable connectivity by the end of 2025. Since the last Quad Leaders’ Summit, Quad partners have committed over $140 million to undersea cable builds in the Pacific, alongside contributions from other likeminded partners. Complementing these investments in new undersea cables, India has commissioned a feasibility study to examine expansion of undersea cable maintenance and repair capabilities in the Indo-Pacific.
    We reaffirm our support for the Pacific Quality Infrastructure Principles, which are an expression of Pacific voices on infrastructure.
    We underscore our commitment to an inclusive, open, sustainable, fair, safe, reliable and secure digital future to advance our shared prosperity and sustainable development across the Indo-Pacific. In this context, we welcome the Quad Principles for Development and Deployment of Digital Public Infrastructure.
    Critical and Emerging Technologies
    Today, we are proud to announce an ambitious expansion of our partnership to deliver trusted technology solutions to the broader Indo-Pacific region.
    Last year, Quad partners launched a landmark initiative to deploy the first Open Radio Access Network (RAN) in the Pacific, in Palau, to support a secure, resilient, and interconnected telecommunications ecosystem. Since then, the Quad has pledged approximately $20 million to this effort.
    Quad partners also welcome the opportunity to explore additional Open RAN projects in Southeast Asia. We plan to expand support for ongoing Open RAN field trials and the Asia Open RAN Academy (AORA) in the Philippines, building on the initial $8 million in support that the United States and Japan pledged earlier this year. The United States also plans to invest over $7 million to support the global expansion of AORA, including through establishing a first-of-its-kind Open RAN workforce training initiative at scale in South Asia, in partnership with Indian institutions.
    Quad partners will also explore collaborating with the Tuvalu Telecommunications Corporation to ensure the country’s readiness for nationwide 5G deployment.
    We remain committed to advancing our cooperation on semiconductors through better leveraging of our complementary strengths to realize a diversified and competitive market and enhance resilience of Quad’s semiconductor supply chains. We welcome a Memorandum of Cooperation between Quad countries for the Semiconductor Supply Chains Contingency Network.
    Through the Advancing Innovations for Empowering NextGen Agriculture (AI-ENGAGE) initiative announced at last year’s Summit, our governments are deepening leading-edge collaborative research to harness artificial intelligence, robotics, and sensing to transform agricultural approaches and empower farmers across the Indo-Pacific. We are pleased to announce an inaugural $7.5+ million in funding opportunities for joint research, and welcome the recent signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation between our science agencies to connect our research communities and advance shared research principles.
    The United States, Australia, India, and Japan look forward to launching the Quad BioExplore Initiative—a funded mechanism that will support joint AI-driven exploration of diverse non-human biological data across all four countries.
    This project will also be underpinned by the forthcoming Quad Principles for Research and Development Collaborations in Critical and Emerging Technologies.
    Climate and Clean Energy
    As we underscore the severe economic, social, and environmental consequences posed by the climate crisis, we continue to work together with Indo-Pacific partners, including through Quad Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Package (Q-CHAMP), to enhance climate and clean energy cooperation as well as promote adaptation and resilience. We emphasize the significant benefits of transitioning to a clean energy economy for our people, our planet, and our shared prosperity. Our countries intend to strengthen our cooperation to align policies, incentives, standards, and investments around creating high-quality, diversified clean energy supply chains that will enhance our collective energy security, create new economic opportunities across the region, and benefit local workers and communities around the world, particularly across the Indo-Pacific.
    We will work together, through policy and public finance, to operationalize our commitment to catalyzing complementary and high-standard private sector investment in allied and partner clean energy supply chains. To this end, Australia will open applications for the Quad Clean Energy Supply Chains Diversification Program in November, providing AUD 50 million to support projects that develop and diversify solar panel, hydrogen electrolyzer and battery supply chains in the Indo-Pacific. India commits to invest $2 million in new solar projects in Fiji, Comoros, Madagascar, and Seychelles. Japan has committed to $122 million grants and loans in renewable energy projects in Indo-Pacific countries. The United States, through DFC, will continue to seek opportunities to mobilize private capital to solar, as well as wind, cooling, batteries, and critical minerals to expand and diversify supply chains.
    We are pleased to announce a focused Quad effort to boost energy efficiency, including the deployment and manufacturing of high-efficiency affordable, cooling systems to enable climate-vulnerable communities to adapt to rising temperatures while simultaneously reducing strain on the electricity grid.
    We jointly affirm our commitment to addressing the challenges posed by climate change and ensure the resilience and sustainability of port infrastructure. Quad partners will leverage our learning and expertise to forge a path towards sustainable and resilient port infrastructure, including through the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).
    Cyber
    In the face of a deteriorating security environment in the cyber domain, Quad countries intend to enhance our cybersecurity partnership to address common threats posed by state-sponsored actors, cybercriminals, and other non-state malicious actors. Our countries commit to taking concrete steps to increase our collective network defense and advance technical capabilities through greater threat information sharing and capacity building. We plan to coordinate joint efforts to identify vulnerabilities, protect national security networks and critical infrastructure networks, and coordinate more closely including on policy responses to significant cybersecurity incidents affecting the Quad’s shared priorities.
    Quad countries are also partnering with software manufacturers, industry trade groups, and research centers to expand our commitmentto pursuing secure software development standards and certification, as endorsed in the Quad’s 2023 Secure Software Joint Principles. We will work to harmonize these standards to not only ensure that the development, procurement, and end-use of software for government networks is more secure, but that the cyber resilience of our supply chains, digital economies, and societies are collectively improved. Throughout this fall, Quad countries each plan to host campaigns to mark the annual Quad Cyber Challenge promoting responsible cyber ecosystems, public resources, and cybersecurity awareness. We are constructively engaging on the Quad Action Plan to Protect Commercial Undersea Telecommunications Cables, developed by the Quad Senior Cyber Group, as a complementary effort to the Quad Partnership for Cable Connectivity and Resilience. Our coordinated actions to protect global telecommunications infrastructure as guided by the Action Plan will advance our shared vision for future digital connectivity, global commerce, and prosperity. 
    Space
    We recognize the essential contribution of space-related applications and technologies in the Indo-Pacific. Our four countries intend to continue delivering Earth Observation data and other space-related applications to assist nations across the Indo-Pacific to strengthen climate early warning systems and better manage the impacts of extreme weather events. In this context, we welcome India’s establishment of a space-based web portal for Mauritius, to support the concept of open science for space-based monitoring of extreme weather events and climate impact.
    Quad Investors Network (QUIN)
    We welcome private sector initiatives—including the Quad Investors Network (QUIN), which facilitates investments in strategic technologies, including clean energy, semiconductors, critical minerals, and quantum. The QUIN is mobilizing a number of investments to promote supply chain resilience, advance joint research and development, commercialize new technologies, and invest in our future workforce.
    People-to-People Initiatives
    The Quad is committed to strengthening the deep and enduring ties between our people, and among our partners. Through the Quad Fellowship, we are building a network of the next generation of science, technology, and policy leaders. Together with the Institute of International Education, which leads implementation of the Quad Fellowship, Quad governments welcome the second cohort of Quad Fellows and the expansion of the program to include students from ASEAN countries for the first time. The Government of Japan is supporting the program to enable Quad Fellows to study in Japan. The Quad welcomes the generous support of private sector partners for the next cohort of fellows, including Google, the Pratt Foundation, and Western Digital.
    India is pleased to announce a new initiative to award fifty Quad scholarships, worth $500,000, to students from the Indo-Pacific to pursue a 4-year undergraduate engineering program at a Government of India-funded technical institution.
    Working Together to Address Regional and Global Issues
    Today we reaffirm our consistent and unwavering support for ASEAN centrality and unity. We continue to support implementation of the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) and are committed to ensuring the Quad’s work is aligned with ASEAN’s principles and priorities.
    We underscore ASEAN’s regional leadership role, including in the East Asia Summit, the region’s premier leader-led forum for strategic dialogue, and the ASEAN Regional Forum. As comprehensive strategic partners of ASEAN, our four countries intend to continue to strengthen our respective relationships with ASEAN and seek opportunities for greater Quad collaboration in support of the AOIP.
    We recommit to working in partnership with Pacific island countries to achieve shared aspirations and address shared challenges. We reaffirm our support for Pacific regional institutions that have served the region well over many years, with the PIF as the region’s premier political and economic policy organization, and warmly welcome Tonga’s leadership as the current PIF Chair in 2024-2025. We continue to support the objectives of the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent. We and our governments will continue to listen to and be guided at every step by Pacific priorities, including climate action, ocean health, resilient infrastructure, maritime security and financial integrity. In particular, we acknowledge climate change remains the single greatest threat to the livelihoods, security and wellbeing of the peoples of the Pacific and applaud Pacific island countries’ global leadership on climate action.
    We remain committed to strengthening cooperation in the Indian Ocean region. We strongly support IORA as the Indian Ocean region’s premier forum for addressing the region’s challenges. We recognize India’s leadership in finalizing the IORA Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (IOIP) and express our support for its implementation. We thank Sri Lanka for its continued leadership as IORA Chair through this year and look forward to India’s assuming the IORA Chair in 2025.  
    As Leaders, we are steadfast in our conviction that international law, including respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the maintenance of peace, safety, security and stability in the maritime domain, underpin the sustainable development, and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific. We emphasize the importance of adherence to international law, particularly as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), to address challenges to the global maritime rules-based order, including with respect to maritime claims. We are seriously concerned about the situation in the East and South China Seas. We continue to express our serious concern about the militarization of disputed features, and coercive and intimidating maneuvers in the South China Sea. We condemn the dangerous use of coast guard and maritime militia vessels, including increasing use of dangerous maneuvers. We also oppose efforts to disrupt other countries’ offshore resource exploitation activities.We reaffirm that maritime disputes must be resolved peacefully and in accordance with international law, as reflected in UNCLOS. We re-emphasize the importance of maintaining and upholding freedom of navigation and overflight, other lawful uses of the sea, and unimpeded commerce consistent with international law. We re-emphasize the universal and unified character of UNCLOS and reaffirm that UNCLOS sets out the legal framework within which all activities in the oceans and the seas must be carried out. We underscore that the 2016 Arbitral Award on the South China Sea is a significant milestone and the basis for peacefully resolving disputes between the parties.
    Together, with our global and regional partners, we continue to support international institutions and initiatives that underpin global peace, prosperity and sustainable development. We reiterate our unwavering support for the UN Charter and the three pillars of the UN system. In consultation with our partners, we will work collectively to address attempts to unilaterally undermine the integrity of the UN, its Charter, and its agencies. We will reform the UN Security Council, recognizing the urgent need to make it more representative, inclusive, transparent, efficient, effective, democratic and accountable through expansion in permanent and non-permanent categories of membership of the UN Security Council. This expansion of permanent seats should include representation for Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean in a reformed Security Council.
    We stand for adherence to international law and respect for principles of the UN Charter, including territorial integrity, sovereignty of all states, and peaceful resolution of disputes. We express our deepest concern over the war raging in Ukraine including the terrible and tragic humanitarian consequences. Each of us has visited Ukraine since the war began, and seen this first-hand; we reiterate the need for a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in line with international law, consistent with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, including respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity. We also note the negative impacts of the war in Ukraine with regard to global food and energy security, especially for developing and least developed countries. In the context of this war, we share the view that the use, or threat of use, of nuclear weapons is unacceptable. We underscore the importance of upholding international law, and in line with the UN Charter, reiterate that all states must refrain from the threat of or use of force against the territorial integrity and sovereignty or political independence of any state.
    We condemn North Korea’s destabilizing ballistic missile launches and its continued pursuit of nuclear weapons in violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions (UNSCRs). These launches pose a grave threat to international peace and stability. We urge North Korea to abide by all its obligations under the UNSCRs, refrain from further provocations and engage in substantive dialogue. We reaffirm our commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula consistent with relevant UNSCRs and call on all countries to fully implement these UNSCRs. We stress the need to prevent any proliferation of nuclear and missile technologies related to North Korea in the region and beyond. We express our grave concern over North Korea’s use of proliferation networks, malicious cyber activity and workers abroad to fund its unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs. In that context, we urge all UN Member States to abide by the relevant UNSCRs including the prohibition on the transfer to North Korea or procurement from North Korea of all arms and related materiel. We express deep concern about countries that are deepening military cooperation with North Korea, which directly undermines the global nonproliferation regime. As the mandate of the UN Panel of Experts tasked with monitoring violations of North Korea-related UNSCR sanctions was not renewed, we reiterate our commitment to continued implementation of the relevant UNSCRs which remain in full force. We reconfirm the necessity of immediate resolution of the abductions issue.
    We remain deeply concerned by the worsening political, security and humanitarian situation in Myanmar, including in Rakhine State, and again call for an immediate cessation of violence, the release of all those unjustly and arbitrarily detained, safe and unhindered humanitarian access, resolution of the crisis through constructive and inclusive dialogue among all stakeholders, and a return to the path of inclusive democracy. We reaffirm our strong support for ASEAN-led efforts, including the work of the ASEAN Chair and the Special Envoy of the ASEAN Chair on Myanmar. We call for full implementation of all commitments under the ASEAN Five-Point Consensus. The ongoing conflict and instability have serious implications for the region, including increases in transnational crime such as cybercrime, the illegal drug trade, and human trafficking. We restate our appeal to all States to prevent the flow of arms and dual-use material, including jet fuel. We remain resolute in our support for the people of Myanmar and commit to continuing to work with all stakeholders in a pragmatic and constructive way, to find a sustainable solution to the crisis in a process which is led by the people of Myanmar and returns Myanmar to the path of democracy.
    We call upon all States to contribute to the safe, peaceful, responsible, and sustainable use of outer space. We remain committed to fostering international cooperation and transparency, as well as confidence-building measures with the goal of improving the security of outer space for all States. We reaffirm the importance of upholding the existing international legal framework for outer space activities, including the Outer Space Treaty, and the obligation of all States Parties to the Treaty not to place in orbit around the Earth any objects carrying nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction, install such weapons on celestial bodies, or station such weapons in outer space in any other manner.
    The Quad reaffirms its commitment to fostering a resilient information environment including through its Countering Disinformation Working Group by supporting media freedom and addressing foreign information manipulation and interference, including disinformation, which undermines trust and sows discord in the international community. We recognize these tactics are intended to interfere with domestic and international interests, and we are committed, together with our regional partners, to leverage our collective expertise and capacity to respond. We reaffirm our commitment to respect international human rights law, strengthen civil society, support media freedom, address online harassment and abuse, including technology-facilitated gender-based violence, and counter unethical practices.
    We unequivocally condemn terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms and manifestations, including cross-border terrorism. We are committed to international cooperation and will work with our regional partners in a comprehensive and sustained manner to strengthen their capability to prevent, detect and respond to threats posed by terrorism and violent extremism, including threats posed by the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes, consistent with international law. We are committed to working together to promote accountability for the perpetrators of such terrorist attacks. We reiterate our condemnation of terrorist attacks including the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai and in Pathankot, and our commitment to pursuing designations, as appropriate, by the UN Security Council 1267 Sanctions Committee.  We welcome the constructive discussions held at the first Quad Working Group on Counter-Terrorism and the fourth tabletop exercise in Honolulu last year, and look forward to Japan hosting the next meeting and tabletop exercise in November 2024.
    We share great interest in achieving peace and stability in the Middle East. We unequivocally condemn the terror attacks on October 7, 2023. The large-scale loss of civilian lives and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is unacceptable. We affirm the imperative of securing the release of all hostages held by Hamas, and emphasize that the deal to release hostages would bring an immediate and prolonged ceasefire in Gaza. We underscore the urgent need to significantly increase deliveries of life-saving humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza as well as the crucial need to prevent regional escalation. We urge all parties to comply with international law, including international humanitarian law, as applicable. We welcome UNSCR S/RES/2735 (2024), and strongly urge all parties concerned to work immediately and steadily toward the release of all hostages and an immediate ceasefire. We call on all parties to take every feasible step to protect the lives of civilians including aid workers, and facilitate the rapid, safe and unimpeded humanitarian relief to civilians. We also encourage other countries, including those in the Indo-Pacific, to increase their support in order to address the dire humanitarian need on the ground. We underscore that the future recovery and reconstruction of Gaza should be supported by the international community. We remain committed to a sovereign, viable and independent Palestinian state taking into account Israel’s legitimate security concerns as part of a two-state solution that enables both Israelis and Palestinians to live in a just, lasting, and secure peace. Any unilateral actions that undermine the prospect of a two-state solution, including Israeli expansion of settlements and violent extremism on all sides, must end. We underscore the need to prevent the conflict from escalating and spilling over in the region.
    We condemn the ongoing attacks perpetrated by the Houthis and their supporters against international and commercial vessels transiting through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, which are destabilizing the region and impeding navigational rights and freedoms and trade flows, and jeopardize the safety of vessels and people on board including sailors.
    We reaffirm our commitment to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the achievement of its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We underscore the importance of achieving the SDGs in a comprehensive manner without selectively prioritizing a narrow set of such goals, and reaffirm that the UN has a central role in supporting countries in their implementation. With six years left, we remain steadfast in our commitment to the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and accelerating progress toward all the SDGs in a comprehensive manner that is balanced across three dimensions – economic, social and environmental. From global health to sustainable development and climate change, the global community benefits when all stakeholders have the opportunity to contribute to addressing these challenges. We affirm our commitment to contributing to and implementing the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda and to achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. We underscore our commitment to strongly engaging constructively in the discussion on advancing sustainable development, including at the Summit of the Future. The Quad continues to realize a safe and secure world where human rights and human dignity are protected, based on the central premise of the SDGs: “Leave no one behind.”
    We, the Quad Leaders, remain dedicated to working in partnership with Indo-Pacific countries in deciding our future and shaping the region we all want to live in.
    Enduring Partners for the Indo-Pacific
    Over the past four years, Quad Leaders have met together six times, including twice virtually, and Quad Foreign Ministers have met eight times in the last five years. Quad country representatives meet together on a regular basis, at all levels, including among ambassadors across the four countries’ extensive diplomatic networks, to consult one another, exchange ideas to advance shared priorities, and deliver benefits with and for partners across the Indo-Pacific region. We welcome our Commerce and Industry ministers preparing to meet for the first time in the coming months. We also welcome the leaders of our Development Finance Institutions and Agencies deciding to meet to explore future investments by the four countries in the Indo-Pacific. Altogether, our four countries are cooperating at an unprecedented pace and scale.
    Each of our governments has committed to working through our respective budgetary processes to secure robust funding for Quad priorities in the Indo-Pacific region to ensure an enduring impact. We intend to work with our legislatures to deepen interparliamentary exchanges, and encourage other stakeholders to deepen engagement with Quad counterparts.
    We look forward to the next Quad Foreign Ministers’ meeting hosted by the United States in 2025, and the next Quad Leaders’ Summit hosted by India in 2025. The Quad is here to stay.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA News: Fact Sheet: 2024 Quad Leaders’  Summit

    Source: The White House

    On September 21, 2024, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. hosted Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia, Prime Minister Kishida Fumio of Japan, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India in Wilmington, Delaware, for the fourth Quad Leaders’ Summit.
     
    The Quad was established to be a global force for good. This year, the Quad is proudly executing tangible projects that benefit partner countries across the Indo-Pacific—including in the Pacific, Southeast Asia, and the Indian Ocean Region. The Quad is working together at unprecedented scope and scale to deliver on Indo-Pacific partners’ priorities. Together, the Quad is leading ambitious projects to help partners address pandemics and disease; respond to natural disasters; strengthen their maritime domain awareness and maritime security; mobilize and build high-standard physical and digital infrastructure; invest in and benefit from critical and emerging technologies; confront the threat of climate change; bolster cyber security; and cultivate the next generation of technology leaders.
     
    ENDURING PARTNERS FOR THE INDO-PACIFIC
     
    Over the past four years, Quad Leaders have met six times, including twice virtually. Quad Foreign Ministers have met eight times, most recently in Tokyo in July. Quad country representatives convene on a regular basis, at all levels, to consult one another, exchange ideas to advance shared priorities, and deliver benefits for partners across the Indo-Pacific region. All Quad governments have institutionalized the Quad at all levels and across a diverse array of departments and agencies. Today, Quad Leaders announced new initiatives to solidify these habits of cooperation and to set up the Quad to endure for the long-term.
     

    • Each Quad government has committed to work through their respective budgetary processes to secure robust funding for Quad priorities in the Indo-Pacific region to ensure an enduring impact.
    • The Quad governments also intend to work with their respective legislatures to deepen interparliamentary exchanges, and encourage other stakeholders to deepen engagement with Quad counterparts. Yesterday, Members of Congress announced the creation of a bipartisan, bicameral Congressional Quad Caucus.
    • In the coming months, Quad Commerce and Industry ministers will meet for the first time.
    • Quad Leaders also welcome the leaders of the Quad Development Finance Institutions and Agencies deciding to meet to explore future investments by the four countries in the Indo-Pacific, including in health security, food security, clean energy, and quality infrastructure. This builds on a previous meeting in 2022 between the heads of the Export Finance Australia, the Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific, India Export-Import Bank, Japan Bank for International Cooperation, and U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC).
    • The United States will host the 2025 Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting, and India will host the 2025 Quad Leaders Summit.

    GLOBAL HEALTH & HEALTH SECURITY

    In 2023, the Quad announced the Quad Health Security Partnership to strengthen coordination and collaboration in support of health security in the Indo-Pacific. The Quad Health Security Partnership is delivering on its commitments to strengthen the Indo-Pacific’s ability to detect and respond to outbreaks of diseases with epidemic or pandemic potential, including through a set of new initiatives announced today.

    Quad Cancer Moonshot

    • The Quad is launching the historic Quad Cancer Moonshot, a collective effort to leverage public and private resources to reduce the number of lives lost to cancer in the Indo-Pacific, with an initial focus on cervical cancer. Altogether, the Quad Cancer Moonshot announced today is projected to save hundreds of thousands of lives over the coming decades. More information can be found here.

    Pandemic Preparedness

    • Quad countries are committed to supporting health security and resiliency efforts across the region, including continued support for the Pandemic Fund.
    • The Quad reaffirms commitment to bolstering health security across the Indo-Pacific region. In 2024, the Quad Health Security Partnership advanced regional resilience through the second pandemic preparedness table top exercise, building on the success of the Quad Vaccine Partnership to enhance prevention, early detection, and response to potential disease outbreaks, and is exploring developing Standard Operating Procedures for Pandemic Response. The Quad’s collaborative efforts included training health specialists from the Indo-Pacific to strengthen regional capabilities for health emergencies.
    • India will host a workshop on pandemic preparedness and release a white paper outlining emergency public health responses.
    • Australia is increasing the pool of public health specialists who are ready to deploy, in-country or in the region, in response to disease outbreaks, with the first training session to commence in Darwin, Australia, in the coming days.
    • In coordination with Quad partners, the United States is pledging over $84.5 million to partner with fourteen countries in the Indo-Pacific region to strengthen capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease threats.

    Mpox

    • In response to the current clade I mpox outbreak, as well as the ongoing clade II mpox outbreak, the Quad plans to coordinate our efforts to promote equitable access to safe, effective, quality-assured mpox vaccines, including where appropriate expanding vaccine manufacturing in low and middle-income countries.

    HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE AND DISASTER RELIEF (HADR)

    Twenty years ago, the Quad first came together to respond to the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, surging humanitarian assistance to affected countries. In 2022, Quad Foreign Ministers signed the Guidelines for the Quad Partnership on HADR in the Indo-Pacific. In May 2024, following a tragic landslide in Papua New Guinea, Quad countries coordinated their response in accordance with these guidelines. The Quad collectively provided over $5 million in humanitarian assistance. Quad partners continue to support Papua New Guinea in its longer-term resiliency efforts. The Quad continues to deepen HADR coordination and support partners in the region in their longer-term resiliency efforts.

    • Quad governments are working to ensure readiness to rapidly respond, including through pre-positioning of essential relief supplies, in the event of a natural disaster; this effort extends from the Indian Ocean region, to Southeast Asia, to the Pacific.
    • In the coming months, Quad HADR experts will conduct a tabletop exercise to prepare for potential future disasters in the region.
    • Quad partners are working together to provide over $4 million in humanitarian assistance to support the people of Vietnam in light of the devastating consequences of Typhoon Yagi.

    MARITIME SECURITY

    Quad partners are working side-by-side with partners throughout the region to bolster maritime security, improve maritime domain awareness, and uphold a free and open Indo-Pacific.

    Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness and Maritime Training

    • Quad Leaders launched the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA) at the 2022 Quad Leaders’ Summit in Tokyo. This initiative provides partners with near-real-time, cost-effective, cutting-edge radio frequency data, enabling them to better monitor their waters; counter illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing; respond to climate change and natural disasters; and enforce their laws within their waters.
    • Since the announcement, in consultation with partners, the Quad has successfully scaled the program across the Indo-Pacific region—through the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency, with partners in Southeast Asia, to the Information Fusion Center—Indian Ocean Region, Gurugram. In doing so, the Quad has helped well over two dozen countries access dark vessel maritime domain awareness data, so they can better monitor the activities in their exclusive economic zones—including unlawful activity.
    • In the next phase of implementation, announced today, the Quad intends to layer new technology and data into IPMDA over the coming year, to continue to deliver cutting edge capability and information to the region. The Quad intends to leverage electro-optical data and advanced analytic software to sharpen the maritime domain awareness picture for partners.
    • Today the Quad announced a new regional Maritime Initiative for Training in the Indo-Pacific (MAITRI) to enable our partners in the region Indo-Pacific partners to maximize tools provided through IPMDA and other Quad partner initiatives, to monitor and secure their waters, enforce their laws, and deter unlawful behavior. The Quad countries look forward to India hosting the inaugural MAITRI workshop in 2025. 
    • Quad countries are coordinating comprehensive and complementary training across the full suite of legal, operational, and technical maritime security and law enforcement knowledge domains. Quad partners have pledged to expand engagement with regional maritime law enforcement fora, share best practices, and improve civil maritime cooperation.

    Indo-Pacific Logistics Network

    • The Quad launches today a Quad Indo-Pacific Logistics Network pilot project, to pursue shared airlift capacity among the four nations and leverage collective logistics strengths, in order to support civilian response to natural disasters more rapidly and efficiently across the Indo-Pacific region. This effort will complement existing efforts with Indo-Pacific partners.

    Coast Guard Cooperation

    • The U.S. Coast Guard, Japan Coast Guard, Australian Border Force, and Indian Coast Guard plan to launch a first-ever Quad-at-Sea Ship Observer Mission in 2025 in the Indo-Pacific to improve interoperability. Through this effort, members of Japan Coast Guard, Australian Border Force, and Indian Coast Guard will spend time on board a U.S. Coast Guard vessel operating in the Indo-Pacific.  The Quad intends to continue with further missions in the Indo-Pacific.

    QUALITY INFRASTRUCTURE

    The Quad is delivering quality, resilient infrastructure to the region to increase connectivity, build regional capacity, and meet critical needs.

    • This year, the Quad countries’ export credit agencies (ECAs) signed and are implementing a Memorandum of Cooperation, which supports supply chain resilience, critical and emerging technologies, renewable energy, and other high-quality projects in the Indo-Pacific. Quad ECAs are strengthening communication on pipeline information and provision of relevant financing for projects in the Indo-Pacific region, and will pursue joint business promotion efforts that involve industry experts, project developers, and other major market players.
    • The Quad released joint Principles for Development and Deployment of Digital Public Infrastructure, underscoring the Quad’s commitment to an inclusive, open, sustainable, fair, safe, reliable, and secure digital future to advance shared prosperity and sustainable development.
    • The Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure organized a workshop in India to empower partners across the Indo-Pacific to strengthen power sector resilience.

    Quad Ports of the Future Partnership

    • The Quad Ports of the Future Partnership will harness the Quad’s expertise to support sustainable and resilient port infrastructure development across the Indo-Pacific, in collaboration with regional partners.
    • In 2025, Quad partners intend to hold the inaugural Regional Ports and Transportation Conference, hosted by India in Mumbai.
    • Through this new partnership, Quad partners intend to coordinate, exchange information, share best practices with partners in the region, and leverage resources to mobilize government and private sector investments in quality port infrastructure across the Indo-Pacific region.

    Quad Infrastructure Fellows

    • The Quad Infrastructure Fellowship was announced at the 2023 Quad Leaders’ Summit to improve capacity and deepen professional networks across the region to design, manage, and attract investment in infrastructure projects. Over the past year, it has expanded to more than 2,200 experts, and Quad partners have already provided well over 1,300 fellowships.

    Undersea Cables and Digital Connectivity

    • Through the Quad Partnership for Cable Connectivity and Resilience, Quad partners continue to support and strengthen quality undersea cable networks in the Indo-Pacific, the capacity, durability, and reliability of which are inextricably linked to the security and prosperity of the region and the world.
    • In support of these efforts, Australia launched the Cable Connectivity and Resilience Centre in July, which is delivering workshops and policy and regulatory assistance in response to requests from across the region.
    • Japan has conducted capacity building trainings to enhance connectivity and resilience in the Indo-Pacific through cooperation with specialized agencies and international organizations. Japan intends to further extend technical cooperation to improve public information and communication technology infrastructure management capacity for an undersea cable in Nauru and Kiribati.
    • The United States has conducted over 1,300 capacity building trainings for telecommunication officials and executives from 25 countries in the Indo-Pacific; today the U.S. announces its intent, working with Congress, to invest an additional $3.4 million to extend and expand this training program.
    • Investments in cable projects by Quad partners will help support all Pacific island countries in achieving primary telecommunication cable connectivity by the end of 2025. Since the last Quad Leaders’ Summit, Quad partners have committed over $140 million to undersea cable builds in the Pacific, alongside contributions from other likeminded partners.
    • Complementing these investments in new undersea cables, India has commissioned a feasibility study to examine expansion of undersea cable maintenance and repair capabilities in the Indo-Pacific.

    CRITICAL AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGY

    The Quad is working in lockstep to stay at the forefront of technology innovation, and remains committed to harnessing emerging technologies for the benefit of people across the Indo-Pacific, and deploying these technologies to facilitate economic prosperity, openness, and connectivity.

    Open Radio Access Network (RAN) and 5G

    • In 2023, Quad partners announced the first-ever Open RAN deployment in the Pacific, in Palau, to support a secure, resilient, and interconnected telecommunications ecosystem. Since then, the Quad has committed approximately $20 million to this effort. Building on this initiative, the Quad announces an expansion of Open RAN collaboration to deliver trusted technology solutions.
    • The Quad plans to expand support for ongoing Open RAN field trials and the Asia Open RAN Academy (AORA) in the Philippines, building on the initial $8 million in support that the United States and Japan pledged earlier this year.
    • In addition, the United States plans to invest over $7 million to support the global expansion of AORA, including through establishing a first-of-its-kind Open RAN workforce training initiative at scale in South Asia, in partnership with Indian institutions.
    • Quad partners also welcome the opportunity to explore additional Open RAN projects in Southeast Asia.
    • Quad partners will also explore collaborating with the Tuvalu Telecommunications Corporation to ensure the country’s readiness for nationwide 5G deployment.

    Artificial Intelligence (AI)

    • Through the Advancing Innovations for Empowering NextGen Agriculture (AI-ENGAGE) initiative announced at the 2023 Quad Leaders’ Summit, Quad governments are deepening leading-edge collaborative research to harness artificial intelligence, robotics, and sensing, to transform agricultural approaches and empower farmers across the Indo-Pacific. The Quad announces an inaugural $7.5+ million in funding opportunities for joint research, and highlights the recent signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation among the four countries’ science agencies to connect research communities and advance shared research principles.
    • The Quad recognizes the importance of advancing international efforts to achieve safe, secure and trustworthy artificial intelligence systems, including through the outcomes of the Hiroshima AI Process, GPAI New Delhi Ministerial Declaration 2023, and UN General Assembly resolution 78/625 on “Seizing the opportunities of safe, secure and trustworthy artificial intelligence systems for sustainable development.” The Quad seeks to further deepen international cooperation on artificial intelligence systems and interoperability among artificial intelligence governance frameworks.
    • Quad countries, through the Standards Sub-Group, launched two Track 1.5 dialogues on AI and Advanced Communications Technologies to promote international standardization cooperation, including frameworks for AI conformity assessment.

    Biotechnology

    • The Quad partners look forward to launching the BioExplore Initiative – a joint effort supported by an initial $2 million in funding to use AI technology to study and analyze biological ecosystems across all four countries. This initiative will help advance our ability to discover and use the diverse capabilities found in living organisms to yield new products and innovations with the potential to diagnose and treat disease, develop resilient crops, generate clean energy, and much more. The initiative will also aim to build technological capacity across the Quad nations. 
    • This project will also be underpinned by the forthcoming Quad Principles for Research and Development Collaborations in Critical and Emerging Technologies, which advances sustainable, responsible, safe and secure collaborations in biotechnologies and other critical technologies among the Quad and across the region.

    Semiconductors

    • Quad Leaders welcome the finalization of a Memorandum of Cooperation for the Semiconductor Supply Chains Contingency Network to facilitate collaboration in addressing semiconductor supply chain risks.

    The Quad Investors Network

    The Quad Investors Network (QUIN) is a nonprofit initiative launched at the 2023 Quad Leaders’ Summit. The QUIN aims to accelerate investments in critical and emerging technologies across the Indo-Pacific region, bringing together investors, entrepreneurs, technologists, and public institutions from the Quad countries to support innovation that aligns with the Quad’s shared values and promotes economic growth, resilience, and regional stability. This year, the QUIN supported ten major strategic investments and partnerships across the Quad in the critical minerals, renewable energy, cybersecurity, and aerospace sectors.

    • The QUIN has advanced additional frameworks to foster the development of new technologies and facilitate investment partnerships for emerging startups, including through finalizing a Memorandum of Understanding for the creation of a startup campus in Tokyo, supported by the QUIN and the Chiba Institute of Technology’s Center for Radical Transformation.
    • The QUIN is also working to establish a new venture accelerator in Tokyo through a collaboration between the University of Tokyo, Northeastern University, and the QUIN.  These collaborations will not only fuel technological advancements but also strengthen the economic ties among the Quad nations, contributing to a more integrated and resilient Indo-Pacific region. 
    • Finally, the QUIN developed a Quantum Center of Excellence, which produced a report this year highlighting ways each Quad country’s Quantum ecosystems can work together to collectively leverage capital and expertise.

    CLIMATE AND CLEAN ENERGY

    The Quad recognizes the existential threat climate change poses to the world, the Indo-Pacific, and in particular island nations in the Pacific and in the Indian Ocean region, and is taking ambitious steps to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change, promote clean energy innovation and adoption, and support sustainable development.

    Climate Adaptation

    • The Quad intends to expand its Early Warning Systems and the Climate Information Services Initiative (CIS), announced at the 2023 Leaders’ Summit. This will help improve Pacific Island countries’ access to high-quality climate data and services, and increase partners’ capacity to prepare for and respond to climate change and its impacts.
    • The United States plans to provide 3D-printed automatic weather stations to the Pacific in 2025 to support local weather and climate forecasts, and also train experts in Fiji with the goal of operating a regional center to develop and deploy this technology.
    • Australia is also strengthening Early Warning Systems through Weather Ready Pacific, a Pacific-led initiative supported by the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders in 2021 that drives and delivers on the EWS4ALL UN initiative in the Pacific.
    • Japan is also enhancing cooperation with Pacific Island countries under its “Pacific Climate Resilience Initiative”, inter alia, by strengthening disaster risk reduction and preparedness through satellite technology and by promoting clean energy through capacity building and installation of renewable energies.
    • The Quad also plans to train experts in Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu to better monitor and forecast flash floods, for timely and accurate warnings, reducing human and economic losses from flash floods.

    Clean Energy

    • Our countries intend to strengthen our cooperation to align policies, incentives, standards, and investments around creating high-quality, diversified clean energy supply chains that will enhance our collective energy security, create new economic opportunities across the region, and benefit local workers and communities around the world, particularly across the Indo-Pacific. We will work together, through policy and public finance, to operationalize our commitment to catalyzing complementary and high-standard private sector investment in allied and partner clean energy supply chains. We note the uniquely complementary capabilities Quad partners share across the battery supply chain, and pledge to focus near-term efforts on strengthening mineral production, recycling, and battery manufacturing across our respective industries.
    • Quad Leaders announced a Quad Clean Energy Supply Chain Diversification Program last year, which aims to support the development of secure and diversified clean energy supply chains in the Indo-Pacific region. Australia will open applications for the Quad Clean Energy Supply Chains Diversification Program in November, providing AUD 50 million to support projects that develop and diversify solar panel, hydrogen electrolyzer and battery supply chains. Secure and diversified clean energy supply chains are an integral part of achieving the Indo-Pacific’s collective energy security, emissions reduction goals and transition to a net zero future.
    • India commits to invest $2 million in new solar projects in Fiji, Comoros, Madagascar, and Seychelles.
    • Japan has committed to $122 million grants and loans, both public and private, in renewable energy projects in the Indo-Pacific.
    • The United States, through the DFC, has extended a $250 million loan to Tata Power Solar to construct a solar cell manufacturing facility and a $500 million loan to First Solar to construct and operate a solar module manufacturing facility in India, and continues to seek opportunities to mobilize private capital to solar, as well as wind, cooling, batteries, and critical minerals to expand capacity and diversify supply chains.
    • The Quad announces an initiative to boost energy efficiency, including the deployment and manufacturing of affordable, high-efficiency, cooling systems, to enable climate-vulnerable communities to adapt to rising temperatures while simultaneously reducing strain on the electricity grid. The United States intends to invest an initial $1.25 million of technical assistance financing to this effort.

    CYBER SECURITY

    The Quad is working together to build a more resilient, secure, and complementary cyber security environment for Quad countries and partners.

    • The Quad has [developed/released] the Quad Action Plan to Protect Commercial Undersea Telecommunications Cables, to advance the Quad’s shared vision for future digital connectivity, global commerce, and prosperity.
    • Quad countries are also partnering with software manufacturers, industry trade groups, and research centers to expand the Quad’s commitment to pursuing secure software development standards and certification, as endorsed in the Quad’s 2023 Secure Software Joint Principles.
    • Quad partners will work to harmonize these standards to not only ensure that the development, procurement, and end-use of software for government networks is more secure, but that the cyber resilience of our supply chains, digital economies, and societies are collectively improved.
    • Throughout this fall, each Quad country plans to host events to mark the annual Quad Cyber Challenge promoting responsible cyber ecosystems, public resources, and cybersecurity awareness. This year’s Cyber Challenge campaigns will focus on establishing career pathway programs to increase the number and diversity of global cybersecurity professionals, including increased participation by women, in this rapidly growing field. Last year’s Quad Cyber Challenge included over 85,000 participants across the Indo-Pacific region.
    • Capacity building projects like the Quad Cyber Bootcamp and the international conference on cyber capacity building in the Philippines are important initiatives to enhance cybersecurity and workforce development in the Indo-Pacific region.
    • The Quad is undertaking joint efforts to identify and mitigate vulnerabilities to national security and protection of critical infrastructure networks, and coordinate more closely including on policy responses to sharing of cyber threat information on significant cybersecurity incidents affecting shared priorities.

    COUNTERING DISINFORMATION

    The Quad is working together to foster a resilient information environment, including through its Countering Disinformation Working Group, by supporting media freedom and addressing foreign information manipulation and interference, including disinformation, which undermines trust and sows discord in the international community.

    PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE TIES

    Quad countries are building enduring ties between their peoples. Stakeholders from Quad countries have participated in International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) and other exchanges, on topics related to cyber security, workforce development for critical and emerging technologies, women in STEM, government transparency and accountability, combating disinformation, and regional maritime governance.

    The Quad Fellowship

    • Together with the Institute of International Education, which leads implementation of the Quad Fellowship, Quad governments welcome the second cohort of Quad Fellows and the expansion of the program to include students from ASEAN countries for the first time. The Government of Japan is supporting the program to enable Quad Fellows to study in Japan. The Quad welcomes the generous support of private sector partners for the next cohort of fellows, including Google, the Pratt Foundation, and Western Digital.
    • The Quad looks forward to the Quad Fellowship Summit in Washington, DC, in October, organized by the Institute of International Education.

    Additional People-to-People Initiatives

    • India announces a new initiative to award fifty Quad scholarships, worth $500,000, to students from the Indo-Pacific to pursue a 4-year undergraduate engineering program at a Government of India-funded technical institution.

    SPACE

    The Quad recognizes the essential contribution of space-related applications and technologies in the Indo-Pacific. The four countries plan to continue delivering Earth Observation data and other space-related applications to assist nations across the Indo-Pacific to strengthen climate early warning systems and better manage the impacts of extreme weather events.

    • The Quad welcomes India’s establishment of a space-based web portal for Mauritius to support the concept of open science for space-based monitoring of extreme weather events and climate impact.

    Space Situational Awareness Initiative

    • Quad partners intend to share expertise and experience in space situational awareness (SSA), contributing to long-term sustainability of the space environment. Cooperation is intended to leverage SSA and space traffic coordination capabilities in the civil domain, including to help avoid collisions in outer space and manage debris.

     
    COUNTERING TERRORISM
     
    The Quad hosted its first Counter Terrorism Working Group (CTWG) in 2023 and will meet annually to discuss CT threats, Quad CT good practices, and ways the Quad can work together to mitigate acts of terrorism through information sharing, consequence management and strategic messaging.  The Quad CTWG currently focuses on countering the use of unmanned aerial systems (C-UAS), chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear devices (CBRN), and the internet for terrorist purposes. The Quad CTWG discusses new CT lines of effort on which to collaborate, hosts technical workshops for establishing CT good practices, and explores ways to engage non-Quad members with Quad-established CT expertise.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA News: Fact Sheet: Quad Countries Launch Cancer Moonshot Initiative to Reduce the Burden of Cancer in the  Indo-Pacific

    Source: The White House

    Today, the United States, Australia, India, and Japan are launching a groundbreaking effort to help end cancer as we know it in the Indo-Pacific, starting with cervical cancer, a largely preventable disease that continues to be a major health crisis in the region, and laying the groundwork to address other forms of cancer as well. This initiative is part of a broader set of announcements made at the Quad Leaders Summit.

    The Quad Cancer Moonshot will serve to strengthen the overall cancer care ecosystem in the Indo-Pacific by improving health infrastructure, expanding research collaborations, building data systems, and providing greater support for cancer prevention, detection, treatment, and care.
     
    Cervical cancer, while preventable through vaccination and usually treatable if detected early, remains the third leading cause of cancer deaths among women in the Indo-Pacific region. Fewer than one in 10 women in the Indo-Pacific have completed their human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination series, and fewer than 10% have undergone recent screening. Many countries in the region face challenges related to healthcare access, limited resources, and disparities in vaccination rates. Through this initiative, Quad countries will work to address these gaps by promoting HPV vaccination, increasing access to screenings, and expanding treatment options and care in underserved areas.

    Altogether, our scientific experts assess that the Quad Cancer Moonshot will save hundreds of thousands of lives over the coming decades.
     
    These steps build on the Biden-Harris Administration’s steadfast commitment to ending cancer as we know it. More than two years ago, President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden reignited the Cancer Moonshot with the goals of reducing the cancer death rate in the United States by at least half—preventing more than 4 million cancer deaths—by 2047, and improving the experience of people who are touched by cancer.

    Cancer is a global challenge that requires collective action and cooperation beyond any single nation’s effort. By working together, the Quad aims to implement innovative strategies to prevent, detect, treat and alleviate the impact of cancer on patients and their families.  Quad partners also intend to work, within respective national contexts, to collaborate in advancing research and development in the area of cancer and to increase private sector and non-governmental sector activities in support of reducing the burden of cervical cancer in the region. Today Quad countries are pleased to announce the following ambitious commitments from our governments and non-government contributors:
     
     
    QUAD COUNTRIES

    • Quad countries intend to continue their strong commitments to Gavi including with HPV vaccines in the Indo-Pacific, with the United States making an early pledge of at least $1.58 billion over five years.
    • In addition, Quad countries will work together with United Nations agencies on bulk purchasing of HPV diagnostics to bring down the cost of cervical cancer screening, and work with the International Atomic Energy Agency to improve access to and quality of medical imaging and radiation therapy.

    United States

    • The Department of Defense, through the U.S. Navy, intends to support HPV vaccine expert exchanges with Indo-Pacific partners, starting in 2025. This partnership will enable healthcare professionals from partner nations to receive hands-on training, build capacity, and strengthen healthcare systems across the Indo-Pacific, focusing on preventive health services like HPV vaccination. The initiative aims to bolster regional cooperation on cancer and promote health security in the region.
    • The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Oncology Center of Excellence intends to arrange a technical visit to India within the next twelve months to set up collaborations with stakeholders under FDA’s ‘Project Asha’.  Working together with the FDA India Office, leading oncologists, patient advocacy groups, clinical trial sponsors, and government stakeholders, this new partnership will focus on capacity-building efforts, including education on the design, conduct, and management of clinical trials, promoting international standards, helping streamline approval processes, sharing regulatory expertise, and increasing cancer clinical trial access.
    • The U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) intends to expand its support as a leading funder of global cancer research and global cancer research training in the Indo-Pacific region. This portfolio currently includes nearly 400 active projects involving investigators and institutions in South Asia, East Asia, and the Pacific, including major investments specifically focused on testing cervical cancer vaccination, screening, and treatment interventions and strategies that can meet the needs of women and girls worldwide. The NCI will also expand its support for global cancer control efforts more broadly through scientific support provided to countries via the International Cancer Control Partnership, International Agency for Research on Cancer, and World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center.
    • The NCI will expand ongoing collaborations with nations in the Indo-Pacific region to provide evidence-based cancer information for health professionals and people affected by cancer to this global audience.  NCI will aim to support the public education needs of the Quad Cancer Moonshot Initiative by providing its expert-curated, comprehensive, and authoritative cancer information to health professionals and patients in the Indo-Pacific. This will include a comprehensive collection of information on cancer topics such as adult and pediatric cancer treatment, screening, prevention, genetics, supportive and palliative care, and integrative, alternative, and complementary therapies, including extensive information related to the screening, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cervical cancer. 
    • The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will support HPV vaccination programs, improve vaccine distribution and strengthen cancer surveillance and prevention systems in the Indo-Pacific region. This will include working with the Philippines Ministry of Health on an HPV vaccination program evaluation, focusing on behavioral and social drivers to inform future vaccine distribution. CDC will also contribute to broader cancer control efforts by supporting cancer control plan development to strengthen the overall cancer care ecosystem in the region.
    • CDC intends to provide technical assistance and disseminate best practices informed by pilot cervical cancer screening studies in the U.S. Pacific territories and freely associated states, as well as continuing to support CDC-funded national cancer control programs in U.S. Pacific Island Jurisdictions (PIJs). These efforts will involve sharing evidence-based strategies to improve early detection of cervical cancer. In addition, CDC intends to disseminate an implementation guide that can assist PIJ efforts to improve their screening capacity and encourage partnerships to promote cervical cancer screening, including guidance on how to build medical and laboratory capacity to conduct primary HPV testing and follow-up tests, and improve data systems to monitor screening to enhance cancer prevention and care infrastructure.
    • The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) will look to support eligible private sector-driven projects to prevent, diagnose, and treat cancer, including cervical cancer. In particular, DFC will look to accelerate the deployment of innovative approaches and technologies to underserved communities.
    • The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) will look to provide critical financial and technical support to expand HPV vaccination access. The U.S. government, through USAID has made an unprecedented pledge of at least $1.58 billion to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which will bolster global efforts to increase vaccine coverage, including HPV vaccines, in low- and middle-income countries, helping to protect millions of women and girls from cervical cancer across the Indo-Pacific and beyond.
    • The State Department, through Global Health Security and Diplomacy (GHSD)-President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), will share best practices on the rapid scale-up of cervical cancer screening and treatment efforts among people living with HIV, including commodity procurement and health system strengthening in low-and-middle-income countries. This collaboration will enhance the integration of cervical cancer screening into existing HIV treatment programs, increasing access to life-saving interventions. It will also focus on improving supply chains for essential medical supplies needed for screening and treatment.

    Australia

    • Through Australian Government and philanthropic contributions, total funding commitments to the Elimination Partnership in the Indo-Pacific for Cervical Cancer (EPICC) consortium will expand to AUD $29.6 million. EPICC is a new program that builds on decades of research and clinician leadership to advance the elimination of cervical cancer across the Indo-Pacific by improving HPV-related policies, planning and readiness in any country in the region. EPICC is piloting HPV programs for future scale-up in Timor-Leste and Solomon Islands, expanding sub-national vaccination programs to support country readiness in Malaysia, Fiji and Papua New Guinea, and supporting the establishment of national sustained HPV elimination programs in Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Nauru. EPICC works across six priority areas to eliminate cervical cancer, including strengthening primary prevention through HPV vaccination support, secondary prevention of cervical cancer through HPV screening and treatment for pre-cancer, laboratory strengthening for cervical cancer screening and diagnosis, digital health work to generate data for decision making and strengthened models of care, supporting cervical cancer management (across both treatment and palliative care), and policy and modelling support across all pillars of the cervical cancer elimination pathway.
    • With a total Australian Government commitment of AUD 16.5 million [$11 million], the expanded EPICC project will extend its reach to more women in the Indo-Pacific. It will also support partner organizations in the region working on cervical cancer elimination to participate in the next Global Forum on Cervical Cancer Elimination, which will have a strong Indo-Pacific focus.
    • Through their charity Minderoo Foundation, Dr. Andrew Forrest AO and Nicola Forrest AO are expanding a lifesaving contribution to EPICC with a further AUD13.1 million [$8.81 million]. This additional funding will see EPICC expanded to up to 11 countries in the region and brings Minderoo’s total commitment to AUD21.7 million. The expanded program will see 140,000 women in the Pacific region screened over the next 4 years, as well as the establishment of national elimination programs and the empowerment of governments to sustain the program for future generations of women and girls.

    India

    • India will share technical expertise in digital health through its National Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) portal. As part of its $10 million commitment to support the World Health Organization (WHO) led Global Initiative on Digital Health, India will provide technical assistance to the Indo-Pacific region. This includes offering technical support for the use of its National Non-Communicable Disease portal, which tracks long-term data on cancer screening and care.
    • India commits to providing HPV sampling kits, detection tools and cervical cancer vaccines worth $7.5 million to the Indo-Pacific region. This significant contribution aims to strengthen local efforts to prevent and detect cervical cancer and empower communities with affordable, accessible tools for early detection and prevention, while supporting vaccination programs to reduce the disease burden across the region.
    • India is scaling up population-based screening for oral, breast, and cervical cancers through its National Progamme for Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases. In particular, India uses the Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid (VIA) method for cervical cancer screening, which is simple, cost effective and efficient and allows healthcare workers to detect early signs of cervical cancer without the need for advanced laboratory infrastructure, making it a model for other regions in the Indo-Pacific.
    • India is expanding access to specialized cancer treatment centers under its “Strengthening of Tertiary Care Cancer Centres” program. The Government of India is supporting both states and union territories to improve treatment capacity across the county, ensuring that people from all parts of the country, including underserved areas, can receive high-quality care.
    • India is committed to affordable cancer treatment through Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY). As part of its broader health coverage efforts, PMJAY, India is committed to providing affordable cancer treatments to its citizens, ensuring financial protection for those most in need.
    • India’s commitment to cervical cancer elimination is further supported by implementation research led by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The research is focused on enhancing cervical cancer screening, early diagnosis and initiation of treatment. The results and findings will be shared with the Indo-Pacific countries in the coming years, to strengthen regional collaboration.

    Japan

    • Japan is providing medical equipment, including Computed Tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanners, and other assistance worth approximately $27 million, to countries in the Indo-Pacific region. These countries include Cambodia, Vietnam, and Timor-Leste, as well as contributing to international organizations.
    • Through the Japan International Cooperation Agency and other organizations, Japan has committed approximately $75 million from FY2019 to FY2023 in the Indo-Pacific to combatting cancer including cervical cancer. This includes providing relevant medical equipment and facilities, medical diagnosis, health system strengthening, and technical assistance.
    • Japan is committed to improving the access to vaccines and promoting the women’s health including the prevention and control of cervical cancer through Global Health Initiatives or International Organizations such as Gavi, UNFPA, IPPF. Japan intends to continue its commitment to support this initiative.
    • Toward the achievement of universal health coverage, Japan intends to strengthen capacity for addressing cancer including cervical cancer in the Indo-Pacific region by health system strengthening.  Japan will also continue to support combatting cancer including cervical cancer in the region through National Cancer Center Japan’s partnership with each Quad country’s cancer related institution.

    NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS

    Collaboration with the private and non-profit sectors of all Quad countries is indispensable to the success of this initiative, as their collective innovation, resources, and commitment will be critical in advancing progress against cancer in the Indo-Pacific region. Quad countries are pleased to announce the following actions from non-government contributors:

    Improving Access to Cancer Screening and Prevention

    • The World Bank is significantly increasing its commitment to cervical cancer prevention and treatment in the Indo-Pacific region through a comprehensive health systems approach, including $400 million in HPV-related investments globally over the next three years. In line with its broader goal to provide quality, affordable health services to 1.5 billion people by 2030, the World Bank, along with the Global Financing Facility (GFF) for Women, Children, and cervical cancer. With projects in countries such as Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and the Philippines, the World Bank is supporting cervical cancer screening, HPV vaccination, and treatment by integrating these services into primary healthcare systems. This includes expanding access to screening for underserved populations, strengthening service delivery, and leveraging partnerships to improve diagnostics and treatment. In addition, the World Bank is working to address supply chain challenges and ensure the sustainable production and distribution of HPV vaccines, with a focus on increasing access across the region. Through this approach, the World Bank aims to create sustainable and equitable health systems that can address the growing burden of cervical cancer and support long-term health outcomes for women and girls across the Indo-Pacific.
    • Women investors and philanthropists of the Women Health and Economic Empowerment Network (WHEN) will deploy a joint investment of more than $100 million over the next three years, with funding targeted for cervical cancer in Southeast Asia. These funds will be working to fill essential gaps for improving the prevention, screening, diagnosis, and treatment of cervical cancer. WHEN’s women investors and philanthropists will deploy grant, concessional, and investment capital into HPV screening, medical imaging, pathology, radiotherapy, training for healthcare workers, and the solarization of health facilities.
    • The Serum Institute of India, in partnership with Gavi, will support the procurement of up to 40 million doses of the HPV vaccine for distribution across the Indo-Pacific region. This commitment can be expanded based on demand, ensuring a steady supply of vaccines to address the cervical cancer burden in underserved areas. By increasing access to lifesaving vaccines, this commitment will help prevent cervical cancer and promote equitable healthcare across the region.
    • The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, alongside other donors and countries earlier this year, committed to support cervical cancer elimination. The foundation announced it intends to commit up to US$180 million over four years to help accelerate the global uptake of HPV vaccines, develop new prophylactic HPV and therapeutic vaccines and diagnostic tools and fund clinical studies.
    • Sabin Vaccine Institute, through the Global HPV Consortium (GHC), will support a new country-based coalition to promote cervical cancer elimination. The Cervical Cancer Elimination Consortium-India (CCEC-I) will collaborate with the Government of India, wherever appropriate, to pilot “100 Cervical Cancer Mukt (Cancer Free) Districts” through their integrated SAVE Strategy: Screening, Access to Treatment, Vaccination, Education. This is in continuation of GHC’s commitment to the Indo-Pacific region, having previously collaborated with Indonesia’s Ministry of Health to support development of their National Cervical Cancer Elimination Plan.
    • Jhpiego, in partnership with the Philippines Department of Health and with support from Roche, is increasing awareness, demand and access for cervical cancer screening by educating women on the importance of HPV testing and the risk of cervical cancer. The Centralized Laboratory Model of Screening project is expanding coverage of cervical cancer screening with introduction of the  WHO elimination strategy-recommended high performance HPV testing, and thermal ablation treatment for precancers, in five highly urbanized Local Government Units of the Philippines – with strengthened referral pathways to ensure a pathway to treatment. 
    • Illumina is committed to supporting the development and adoption of genomic diagnostic tests to fulfill the promise of precision medicine in the Indo-Pacific Region. The objective of this initiative is to ensure that advanced-stage (>50%) and non-HPV driven (~5%) cervical cancer patients receive correct diagnoses and possible suitable therapies such as Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors and immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI). Similar initiatives are being explored with gynecological oncology organizations in Australia and Japan. 
    • Roche Diagnostics is expanding its cervical cancer screening and diagnosis initiatives in the Indo-Pacific region. Roche Diagnostics will expand efforts in the Indo-Pacific to increasing access to screening and raising awareness building on the experience gained in partnership with Japan including on  providing education to women, training healthcare workers, and developing digital solutions for efficient follow-up care; and in partnership with  Australia on promoting cervical cancer screening among under-screened and never-screened groups, including Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, and culturally diverse communities.
    • Becton Dickinson & Co. (BD) is making comprehensive investments in cervical cancer screening in the Indo-Pacific.  BD is working with Obstetric and Gynecological Societies to deliver education for clinicians on cervical cancer screening best practices, with an aim of reaching over 1,200 clinicians and support staff by early 2025. BD is also investing in pilots to inform the design of large-scale HPV screening rollout and programs to reach under-served communities. Through their longstanding partnership with Direct Relief, BD is working with the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) to facilitate screening for over 20,000 women. Under the program, 400 screening camps will offer screening, diagnosis and mental health support.

    Improving Cancer Care Delivery

    • Project ECHO will accelerate cervical cancer elimination in the Indo-Pacific region through 10 new learning networks that facilitate effective and accessible prevention and care. More than 180 public health organizations in 33 countries leverage the ECHO Model, an evidence-based training and mentorship framework for community-based health care professionals, to improve cancer care delivery. By 2028, Project ECHO will launch at least 10 new communities of practice, with local partners and ministries of health in Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and other Indo-Pacific countries to accelerate cervical cancer elimination, including programs for HPV vaccine implementation, treatment of precancerous lesions, and use of essential curative therapies.
    • The American Cancer Society is committed to reduce the global burden of HPV-related cancers by increasing support of civil society organizations globally, including in the Indo-Pacific Region. Support for these organizations, initially focused on cancer civil society organizations and medical societies, includes catalytic grants and technical assistance for implementing evidence-based, low-cost behavioral interventions aimed at optimizing the demand and uptake of life-saving prevention services through widespread healthcare provider trainings. 
    • The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) will update its global guidelines on the Management and Care of Women with Invasive Cervical Cancer to incorporate new recommendation-changing scientific evidence on optimal approaches to the treatment of cervical cancer. Once completed, ASCO will work with its members, including their Asia Pacific Regional Council, and partner oncology societies in the Indo-Pacific to support the usage of these guidelines, along with companion guidelines on primary and secondary prevention of cervical cancer, by cancer clinicians for improved patient outcomes in the region.
    • The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is expanding its Rays of Hope initiative to strengthen radiotherapy and medical imaging capacities in the Indo-Pacific region. Through this initiative, 13 countries and territories have requested support, and efforts are already underway to raise awareness and increase cervical cancer screening rates. The IAEA has designated cancer institutes in Japan, and India as Rays of Hope Anchor Centres, serving as hubs for capacity building in education, training, research, innovation, and quality assurance.
    • The Union for International Cancer Control is committed to working with its 1150 members across 172 countries to address inequities and drive global action in cervical cancer elimination, including in the Indo-Pacific region over the next three years as part of the ‘Elimination Partnership in the Indo-Pacific for Cervical Cancer’. Leveraging flagship convening platforms, established learning opportunities, alongside its rich network and proven ability to collaborate across sectors, UICC will support national partners to improve access to care, sustain progress and ultimately, reduce the burden of cancer for populations around the world.

    Increasing Capacity for Cancer Research, Infrastructure, and Training

    • Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Australia’s Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney launch a $40 million public-private partnership that will advance international clinical trials of precision oncology and liquid biopsy technologies, including for the detection and elimination of cervical cancer. A generous donation of $20 million to each institution from Australian philanthropists Mr. Gregory John Poche and the late Mrs. Kay Van Norton Poche, will support this public-private partnership, accelerating the development of cutting-edge diagnostic and treatment tools for the Indo-Pacific region and beyond.
    • Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS) will support organizations in the Indo-Pacific region in their ability to prevent, detect, and treat cervical cancer, will provide cloud computing credits and enable access to AWS and datasets via the Registry of Open Data on AWS. Researchers are using AWS to identify patterns and variances from datasets secured from the Cancer Genome Atlas and others through AWS.
    • Pfizer will expand the INDovation initiative to build oncology capacity at the primary care level in the Indo-Pacific. INDovation was launched by Pfizer two years ago to support local startups. Under the program, Pfizer has awarded nearly $1 million in grants to startups, including those related to cervical cancer, and worked in partnership with the government and universities. Pfizer is now expanding the program to focus on oncology with the goal of strengthening primary care health centers. Under this phase, Pfizer will award grants to up to 10 startups that can deploy solutions to help enhance early diagnosis and patient services at the primary care setting with potential deployment across primary health centers in the region.
    • Elekta will expand radiotherapy capacity in the Indo-Pacific, closing an important treatment gap in the region to contribute to eliminating cervical cancer. Initiatives include establishing radiotherapy training centers in Southeast Asia, conducting treatment courses with regional medical centers and implementing cloud-based platforms to improve quality of care in radiotherapy through knowledge sharing, and peer review sessions among the member centers of the Asia-Pacific radiation oncology network.
    • MD Anderson commits to expanding their cervical cancer research, training and education programs to the Indo-Pacific region. MD Anderson currently collaborates with the Ministry of Health of Indonesia on the implementation and evaluation of cervical cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment programs and helps train medical providers in-country to perform colposcopy, ablation, loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP), and surgery. MD Anderson commits to expanding these programs to ministries of health in the Indo-Pacific interested in partnerships to eliminate cervical cancer.

    Increasing Cancer Awareness and Education to Empower People

    • Hologic, a global leader in diagnostic and medical imaging solutions for cervical and breast cancer, is working with government agencies and health care providers in the Indo-Pacific region to educate and raise awareness on cervical cancer. Hologic is currently expanding access to innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence in cervical cancer screening to scale population-based programs to overcome provider shortages in the Indo-Pacific region. In addition, Hologic commits to the continued publication of the Global Women’s Health Index, a comprehensive global survey about women’s health, filling a critical gap in what the world knows about the health and well-being of the world’s women and girls.
    • The Global Initiative Against HPV and Cervical Cancer will promote HPV vaccination, cervical screening and early treatment projects with partners and collaborators in the Indo-Pacific Region. These efforts will include organizing the Asia-Pacific Workshop in Bangkok to share knowledge and best practices within the region and expanding awareness efforts to further enhance awareness initiatives throughout the Indo-Pacific.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI China: France’s new gov’t revealed despite left-wing winning legislatives

    Source: China State Council Information Office

    French Prime Minister Michel Barnier announced on Saturday evening the formation of his government with 39 members coming from center and right-wing parties.

    Among the 17 ministers, seven come from President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance and three from Barnier’s conservative party The Republicans (Les Republicains).

    Jean-Noel Barrot was nominated to replace Stephane Sejourne as Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs.

    The 41-year-old Barrot was an economist and served as Minister Delegate for Europe in the former government.

    Bruno Retailleau was appointed to be the Minister of Interior, which the French daily Le Figaro considered as a “symbol of firmness” to restore public order in France.

    Retailleau, a member of the Barnier’s party, promised, on his social media platform X account, to “restore order to ensure harmony” and reaffirmed his support for the police.

    The position of Minister of Economy and Finance was given to Antoine Armand who is only 33 years old.

    He now has to help Barnier submit France’s 2025 budget draft bill to the National Assembly while trying to keep France’s debt under control as mandated by the European Union.

    However, the list of members of the new government lacks candidates from the left-wing and far-ring wing parties, two relative winners of the snap legislative elections.

    Barnier’s government immediately received criticism from left-wing parties. The leader of the Socialist Party Olivier Faure denounced Barnier’s decision to form a center-right government, saying that his decision “gives the finger” to democracy.

    Leader of the far-left-wing party, La France Insoumise, the main party of the left-wing parties alliance during the latest legislative elections, Jean-Luc Melanchon, said that the government was formed with “losers of the legislative elections.”

    The government “has neither legitimacy nor a future. It will be necessary to get rid of it as soon as possible,” he said on his X account.

    The left-wing parties already vowed to launch a vote of no confidence against the government in the National Assembly where they do not hold an absolute majority. They need to count on the far-right wing party, the National Rally’s support.

    As for the far-ring wing party, the National Rally (RN), its former leader Marine Le Pen expressed her disappointment over the new government.

    On her X account, she said that Barnier’s government was “transitional” and called for a “major change.”

    For her, the government announced on Saturday evening was rather a reshuffled former government than a newly formed one.

    Macron nominated on Sept. 5 Barnier, former Brexit negotiator, as the new prime minister.

    Barnier has announced that he intended to address “the challenges, the anger, the suffering, and the sense of abandonment and injustice” that the country is currently experiencing.

    After forming a government, Barnier’s urgent mission now remains to complete a draft budget for 2025 before Oct. 1 and submit it for voting in the National Assembly.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Wynyard — Update: Wynyard RCMP on scene of serious collision on Highway #16

    Source: Royal Canadian Mounted Police

    On September 20, 2024 at approximately 8:50 p.m., Wynyard RCMP received a report of a collision on Highway #16 about two kilometers north of Dafoe, SK.

    Officers responded along with local fire and EMS. Investigation determined a semi and truck collided. The driver and sole occupant of the truck was declared deceased by EMS at the scene. She has been identified as a 53-year-old female from north Vancouver, BC. Her family has been notified.

    The driver of the semi was taken to hospital with injuries described as non-life threatening.

    Highway #16 was closed during the initial investigation but has since re-opened. A Saskatchewan RCMP Collision Reconstructionist had attended. Wynyard RCMP continue to investigate in conjunction with the Saskatchewan Coroners Service.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Motorcycle Crash, Murdunna

    Source: Tasmania Police

    Motorcycle Crash, Murdunna

    Sunday, 22 September 2024 – 4:26 pm.

    Police are investigating a crash involving two motorcycles that occurred about 10.50am this morning on Hylands Road, Murdunna.
    A 18-year-old man was taken to the Royal Hobart Hospital in a serious but stable condition by helicopter.
    A 16-year-old youth presented to the Royal Hobart Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
    Investigations into the crash are continuing and police would like to speak with anyone who was in the area at the time of the crash.
    Anyone with information or dashcam footage is asked to contact Tasmania Police on 131 444 or Crime Stoppers Tasmania on 1800 333 000 or at crimestopperstas.com.au.
    Information can be provided anonymously.
    Please quote ESCAD127-22092024.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI China: France’s new center-right gov’t revealed

    Source: China State Council Information Office 3

    French Prime Minister Michel Barnier announced on Saturday evening the formation of his government with 39 members coming from center and right-wing parties.

    Among the 17 ministers, seven come from President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance and three from Barnier’s conservative party The Republicans (Les Republicains).

    Jean-Noel Barrot was nominated to replace Stephane Sejourne as Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs.

    The 41-year-old Barrot was an economist and served as Minister Delegate for Europe in the former government.

    Bruno Retailleau was appointed to be the Minister of Interior, which the French daily Le Figaro considered as a “symbol of firmness” to restore public order in France.

    Retailleau, a member of the Barnier’s party, promised, on his social media platform X account, to “restore order to ensure harmony” and reaffirmed his support for the police.

    The position of Minister of Economy and Finance was given to Antoine Armand who is only 33 years old.

    He now has to help Barnier submit France’s 2025 budget draft bill to the National Assembly while trying to keep France’s debt under control as mandated by the European Union.

    However, the list of members of the new government lacks candidates from the left-wing and far-ring wing parties, two relative winners of the snap legislative elections.

    Barnier’s government immediately received criticism from left-wing parties. The leader of the Socialist Party Olivier Faure denounced Barnier’s decision to form a center-right government, saying that his decision “gives the finger” to democracy.

    Leader of the far-left-wing party, La France Insoumise, the main party of the left-wing parties alliance during the latest legislative elections, Jean-Luc Melanchon, said that the government was formed with “losers of the legislative elections.”

    The government “has neither legitimacy nor a future. It will be necessary to get rid of it as soon as possible,” he said on his X account.

    The left-wing parties already vowed to launch a vote of no confidence against the government in the National Assembly where they do not hold an absolute majority. They need to count on the far-right wing party, the National Rally’s support.

    As for the far-ring wing party, the National Rally (RN), its former leader Marine Le Pen expressed her disappointment over the new government.

    On her X account, she said that Barnier’s government was “transitional” and called for a “major change.”

    For her, the government announced on Saturday evening was rather a reshuffled former government than a newly formed one.

    Macron nominated on Sept. 5 Barnier, former Brexit negotiator, as the new prime minister.

    Barnier has announced that he intended to address “the challenges, the anger, the suffering, and the sense of abandonment and injustice” that the country is currently experiencing.

    After forming a government, Barnier’s urgent mission now remains to complete a draft budget for 2025 before Oct. 1 and submit it for voting in the National Assembly.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Ministry achieves 100 days target on Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats

    Source: Government of India

    Ministry achieves 100 days target on Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats

    Cabinet Approved recently Continuation of Wildlife Habitat Development Scheme with Rs. 2602.98 Crore Outlay for 15th Finance Commission Cycle

    Scheme to Feature Key Components: Project Tiger, Project Elephant, and Wildlife Habitat Development

    Posted On: 21 SEP 2024 2:38PM by PIB Delhi

    The Cabinet in its meeting held on September 11, approved continuation of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats for the 15th Finance Commission cycle for an overall outlay of Rs. 2602.98 crores. The said scheme includes the critical Project Tiger sub component along with Project Elephant and Development of Wildlife Habitat. This was one of the items included in the 100-day action plan of the Government.

     

    While strengthening the existing fundamental and core components of the scheme, the scheme envisages to boost technological interventions in different thematic areas over the current and next financial year in our tiger and wildlife bearing forests.

     

    The Project Tiger already has an inherent use of technology in day-to-day management practices such as the M-STrIPES (Monitoring System for Tigers, Intensive Protection and Ecological Status) mobile application. The latter is in sync with the Digital India initiative and was extensively used for collection of field level ecological data during the 5th cycle of the All-India Tiger Estimation in 2022. The All-India Tiger Estimation itself is technologically intensive with the extensive deployment of camera traps across tiger habitats of the country. This exercise also makes use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for species level identification. Conservation genetics has also been significantly used in the field of tiger conservation wherein a SOP for translocating tigers based on their genetic composition has been issued. Further, genetics has also been used to determine tiger numbers in low density landscapes as well as for determining the food ecology of the species. These interventions are proposed to be enhanced under the said scheme.

    The Project Tiger component also supports the ambitious Project Cheetah in the country which shall be continued under the umbrella scheme of Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats. The areas for Cheetah introduction are proposed to be expanded as per the Cheetah Action Plan under the said scheme and efforts shall be made to strengthen monitoring protocols using advanced radio telemetry protocols.

     

    The Project Dolphin under the Development of Wildlife Habitat component is proposed to be supported by provisioning equipment such as Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) and passive acoustic monitoring devices for enumeration of dolphins as well as their habitat. Project Lion, also under the ambit of the Development of Wildlife Habitat shall be strengthened as per activities envisaged in the document titled “Lion @ 2047: A vision for Amrut Kaal”. Human-elephant conflict under the Project Elephant component is envisaged to leverage information and communication technology interventions. While these have been tested on an experimental basis, the same shall be deployed on a larger scale.

     

    55 tiger reserve, 33 elephant reserves and 718 protected areas and their zones of influence stand to benefit. The forests of these areas are a bulwark against the adversities of climate change besides ensuring water security of the nation. In addition, the cause of keystone species occupying these landscapes, especially the tiger, the elephant, the cheetah, the snow leopard and the lion, which act as an indicator of these ecosystems will be furthered. Not only this, lesser known species, especially those identified for the Species recovery programme under the Development of Wildlife Habitat component, stand to gain with the continuation of the scheme.

    The scheme has a livelihood generation of more than 50 lakh man days through direct engagement in addition to indirect employment through eco-tourism and ancillary activities.

    The continuation of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats reiterates the commitment of the Government towards tiger and wildlife conservation ensuring that economy and ecology grow together.

    The overall outlay for the three components for the 15th Finance Commission cycle as well as its remaining period:

    S. No.

    Name of Scheme

    Central Share

    State Share

    Total

    1

    Project Tiger

    1575.00

    955.00

    2530.00

    2

    Project Elephant

    182.58

    54.00

    236.58

    3

    Development of Wildlife Habitat

    845.4

    273.02

    1118.42

    * All figures in Rs. Crores              Total:

    2602.98

    1282.02

    3885.00

     

    Component of EFC

    2024-25

    2025-26

    Project Tiger

    365.00

    365.00

    Project Elephant

    40.00

    40.12

    Development of Wildlife Habitat

    195.00

    183.16

    Total

    (All figures in Rs. crores)

    600

    588.28

     

    *****

    NB/GS

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    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: CBDT notifies Rules and Forms for Direct Tax Vivad Se Vishwas (DTVSV) Scheme, 2024

    Source: Government of India

    CBDT notifies Rules and Forms for Direct Tax Vivad Se Vishwas (DTVSV) Scheme, 2024

    The Scheme to come into force with effect from 1st Oct. 2024

    DTVSV Scheme provides for lesser settlement amounts for a ‘new appellant’ in comparison to an ‘old appellant’

    Posted On: 21 SEP 2024 1:40PM by PIB Delhi

    In pursuance of the announcement in Union Budget 2024-25 by Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has notified the Direct Tax Vivad Se Vishwas Scheme, 2024 (referred as DTVSV, 2024) to resolve pending appeals in the case of income tax disputes. The said Scheme shall come into force with effect from 1st Oct. 2024.

    The DTVSV Scheme, 2024 was enacted vide Finance (No. 2) Act, 2024.  Further, the Rules and Forms for enabling the Scheme have also been notified vide Notification No. 104/2024 in G.S.R 584(E) dated 20.09.2024.

    The DTVSV Scheme provides for lesser settlement amounts for a ‘new appellant’ in comparison to an ‘old appellant’. The DTVSV Scheme also provides for lesser settlement amounts for taxpayers who file declaration on or before 31.12.2024 in comparison to those who file thereafter.

    Four separate Forms have been notified for the purposes of the DTVSV Scheme. These are as under:

    1. Form-1: Form for filing declaration and Undertaking by the declarant
    2. Form-2: Form for Certificate to be issued by Designated Authority
    3. Form-3: Form for Intimation of payment by the declarant
    4. Form-4: Order for Full and Final Settlement of tax arrears by Designated Authority

    The DTVSV Scheme also provides that Form-1 shall be filed separately for each dispute provided that where appellant and the income-tax authority, both have filed an appeal in respect of the same order, single Form-1 shall be filed in such a case.

    The intimation of payment is to be made in Form-3 and is to be furnished to the Designated Authority alongwith proof of withdrawal of appeal, objection, application, writ petition, special leave petition, or claim.

    Forms 1 and 3 shall be furnished electronically by the declarant. These Forms will be made available on the e-filing portal of Income Tax Department i.e. www.incometax.gov.in.

    For detailed provisions of the DTVSV Scheme, 2024, section 88 to section 99 of the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2024 may be referred to alongwith Direct Tax Vivad Se Vishwas Rules, 2024.      

    This is another initiative by the Government towards litigation management.

    CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE NOTIFICATION

    ****

    NB/KMN

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    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Shri Piyush Goyal inaugurates Invest India’s Singapore Office

    Source: Government of India

    Posted On: 22 SEP 2024 3:33PM by PIB Delhi

    Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal today inaugurated Invest India’s new office in Singapore. Today’s office inauguration comes after India’s Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi announced setting up of an Invest India office in Singapore during his visit to the country on September 4th and 5th, 2024. The Singapore Office is Invest India’s first overseas office. This significant move reinforces India’s commitment to deepening investment partnerships and making it easier for global investors to engage with India. The Singapore office will serve as a dedicated point of contact for companies from the region looking to invest in India, fostering collaboration across sectors.

    Speaking at the event, Minister Goyal emphasised, “Singapore is a key strategic partner for India, and this office marks a new chapter in our efforts to strengthen economic cooperation with Singapore and the broader ASEAN region. We plan to open more overseas Invest India offices in the coming months with an aim to provide global investors seamless access to India’s dynamic and growing economy.”

    ***

    AD

    (Release ID: 2057548) Visitor Counter : 30

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: India signs first-of-its-kind agreements focused on Clean Economy, Fair Economy, and the IPEF Overarching arrangement under Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for prosperity

    Source: Government of India

    India signs first-of-its-kind agreements focused on Clean Economy, Fair Economy, and the IPEF Overarching arrangement under Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for prosperity

    Agreements to facilitate development, access, and deployment of clean energy and climate-friendly technologies

    Agreements to catalyse investment and strengthen measures for anti-corruption, tax transparency etc. and improve business environment

    Posted On: 22 SEP 2024 11:25AM by PIB Delhi

    India signed and exchanged the first-of-its-kind agreements focused on Clean Economy, Fair Economy, and the IPEF Overarching arrangement under Indo -Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) for prosperity, on 21st September, 2024 at Delaware USA, in the presence of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi who is on 3-day visit to the US for the Quad Summit.

    IPEF Clean Economy Agreement (Pillar-III)

    The Agreement on Clean Economy intends to promote technical cooperation, workforce development, capacity building, and research collaborations; and collaborate to facilitate development, access, and deployment of clean energy and climate-friendly technologies with the aim to collectively accelerate efforts of IPEF partners towards energy security and transition, climate resilience and adaptation and GHG emissions mitigation.

    This Agreement will facilitate investments, project financing including concessional financing, joint collaborative projects, workforce development and Technical Assistance and Capacity Building for industries, in particular for the MSMEs, and facilitate further integration of Indian companies in the global value chains, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region. These activities will be undertaken through joint collaborative actions such as Cooperative Work Programmes, the IPEF Catalytic Capital Fund, the IPEF Accelerator etc.

    IPEF Fair Economy Agreement (Pillar-IV)

    The Agreement aims to create a more transparent and predictable trade and investment environment across the Indo-Pacific. To achieve these goals, the IPEF partners will collaborate to enhance their efforts in preventing and combating corruption, including bribery, and supporting initiatives to improve tax transparency, the exchange of information, domestic resource mobilization, and tax administration.

    It focuses on enhancing information sharing among partners, facilitating asset recovery, and strengthening cross-border investigations and prosecutions. This will also support India’s efforts in fighting corruption, money laundering, and terror financing.

    Recognizing the critical role of technical assistance and capacity building (TACB) in achieving the commitments outlined in the proposed agreement and ensuring effective implementation and enforcement of anti-corruption measures, the partners are committed to identifying and implementing TACB initiatives. These initiatives will strengthen anti-corruption efforts and improve the efficiency of tax administration.

    Overarching IPEF Agreement

    The Overarching Agreement is an administrative agreement establishing an oversight Ministerial-level mechanism. This Agreement seeks to establish a high-level political oversight framework at the Ministerial level over the various individual IPEF agreements while setting general guidance and goals, and guiding Leaders’ vision and mandate for IPEF. This Agreement primarily includes administrative and institutional provisions.

    This agreement would provide identity to the group and longevity to the IPEF partnership, by creating a formal mechanism and establishing a forum for Ministerial discussions on emerging issues, etc. This agreement is expected to facilitate the effective implementation of subject agreements (Pillars II-IV), that have the potential to enhance India’s productive capacity, and integration into supply chains, and promote innovation, in line with the concept of Atmanirbhar Bharat.

    The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, had accorded the approval earlier this month for signing and ratification of these three agreements focused on the Clean Economy, Fair Economy, and the overarching IPEF Agreement which were signed by other IPEF members on June 6, 2024 in IPEF Ministerial meeting in Singapore, however India did not formally sign the same then as the domestic approval process was still underway.

    IPEF to boost investment

    Investor Forum: Under Clear Economy (Pillar-III) Agreement, IPEF partners aim to catalyze investment in green technology and reduce GHG emissions through various means including annual business matching events under the Investor Forum.  The First Investor Forum was held in Singapore on 5-6 June, 2024.  One of such efforts was accelerated in the form of a MoU among companies from India, Singapore and Japan following which, Singapore-based Sembcorp will be investing ₹36,238 crore for state-of-the-art green ammonia plant in Thoothukudi.

    At the Inaugural Forum, IPEF partners identified USD 23 Billion (₹1.91 lakh crore) of priority infrastructure projects  ~USD 4 Billion (₹ 33,200 crore) from India which offered potential opportunities for investment in some Indian renewable energy companies. The United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) committed a total of USD 1.5 Billion (₹12,450 crore) to support energy transition, climate investment, and digital inclusion.

    Funds under IPEF: IPEF also provides platforms for technical assistance, concessional funding, and viability gap funding. The IPEF Catalytic Capital Fund, with an initial grant of USD 33 million (₹273.9 crore) from Australia, Japan, Korea, and the United States, aims to catalyze private investments totaling USD 3.3 billion (₹27,390 crore). Additionally, the PGI Investment Accelerator under IPEF has received initial funding of USD 300 million (₹2,490 crore) from the United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC).

    Initiatives under IPEF

    IPEF Upskilling Initiative: IPEF Upskilling Initiative was launched in September 2022 to support sustainable and inclusive economic growth and development by providing primarily for women and girls in IPEF emerging and middle-income partner countries with access to digital skills training. Under the initiative, as communicated by the US, 14 participating US companies and the Asia Foundation provided 10.9 million upskilling opportunities in IPEF partners, primarily for women and girls, in the last 2 years, of which India availed 4 million of these opportunities.

    Critical Mineral Dialogue: This ongoing dialogue focuses on several key areas, including the comprehensive mapping of mineral resources across IPEF partners to develop an extensive database, promoting trade by mapping trade flows within the IPEF region and enhancing business engagements, and fostering technical collaboration for mineral recovery and recycling in the region. These initiatives are aimed at strengthening the critical mineral supply chain and ensuring sustainable mining practices in the region.

    Tech Council: The main objectives of this initiative are coordination and cooperation on key technologies by bringing together IPEF partners to share best practices and standards, enhance the resilience of digital infrastructure, promote investment, and foster innovation through workforce development. The key areas on which IPEF partners are currently collaborating include Cyber Security, Undersea Cables and Artificial Intelligence.

    Cooperative Work Program (CWP): Aim of CWP is to facilitate collaborative and cooperative efforts among the interested participating IPEF countries to advance the objectives of the Clean Economy Agreement. Till date, 8 CWP proposals, circulated by several IPEF countries, have been announced in the IPEF Ministerial meetings. These are related to hydrogen supply chains, carbon markets, clean electricity, sustainable aviation fuel, just transition, emissions intensity accounting, small modular reactors, and including India’s proposal on e-waste urban mining.

    About IPEF

    IPEF was launched on 23 May 2022 at Tokyo, Japan, comprising 14 countries – Australia, Brunei, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and USA. The IPEF seeks to strengthen economic engagement and cooperation among partner countries with the goal of advancing growth, economic stability and prosperity in the region.

    The framework is structured around four pillars relating to Trade (Pillar I); Supply Chain Resilience (Pillar II); Clean Economy (Pillar III); and Fair Economy (Pillar IV). India has ratified Agreement on Supply Chain Resilience (Pillar II) in February 2024 and has maintained an observer status in Pillar-I.

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  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Fact Sheet: 2024 Quad Leaders’ Summit

    Source: Government of India (2)

    Posted On: 22 SEP 2024 8:58AM by PIB Delhi

    On September 21, 2024, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. hosted Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia, Prime Minister Kishida Fumio of Japan, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India in Wilmington, Delaware, for the fourth Quad Leaders’ Summit.

    The Quad was established to be a global force for good. This year, the Quad is proudly executing tangible projects that benefit partner countries across the Indo-Pacific—including in the Pacific, Southeast Asia, and the Indian Ocean Region. The Quad is working together at unprecedented scope and scale to deliver on Indo-Pacific partners’ priorities. Together, the Quad is leading ambitious projects to help partners address pandemics and disease; respond to natural disasters; strengthen their maritime domain awareness and maritime security; mobilize and build high-standard physical and digital infrastructure; invest in and benefit from critical and emerging technologies; confront the threat of climate change; bolster cyber security; and cultivate the next generation of technology leaders.

    ENDURING PARTNERS FOR THE INDO-PACIFIC

    Over the past four years, Quad Leaders have met six times, including twice virtually. Quad Foreign Ministers have met eight times, most recently in Tokyo in July. Quad country representatives convene on a regular basis, at all levels, to consult one another, exchange ideas to advance shared priorities, and deliver benefits for partners across the Indo-Pacific region. All Quad governments have institutionalized the Quad at all levels and across a diverse array of departments and agencies. Today, Quad Leaders announced new initiatives to solidify these habits of cooperation and to set up the Quad to endure for the long-term.

    Each Quad government has committed to work through their respective budgetary processes to secure robust funding for Quad priorities in the Indo-Pacific region to ensure an enduring impact.

    The Quad governments also intend to work with their respective legislatures to deepen interparliamentary exchanges, and encourage other stakeholders to deepen engagement with Quad counterparts. Yesterday, Members of Congress announced the creation of a bipartisan, bicameral Congressional Quad Caucus.

    In the coming months, Quad Commerce and Industry ministers will meet for the first time.

    Quad Leaders also welcome the leaders of the Quad Development Finance Institutions and Agencies deciding to meet to explore future investments by the four countries in the Indo-Pacific, including in health security, food security, clean energy, and quality infrastructure. This builds on a previous meeting in 2022 between the heads of the Export Finance Australia, the Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific, India Export-Import Bank, Japan Bank for International Cooperation, and U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC).

    The United States will host the 2025 Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting, and India will host the 2025 Quad Leaders Summit.

    GLOBAL HEALTH & HEALTH SECURITY

    In 2023, the Quad announced the Quad Health Security Partnership to strengthen coordination and collaboration in support of health security in the Indo-Pacific. The Quad Health Security Partnership is delivering on its commitments to strengthen the Indo-Pacific’s ability to detect and respond to outbreaks of diseases with epidemic or pandemic potential, including through a set of new initiatives announced today.

    Quad Cancer Moonshot

    The Quad is launching the historic Quad Cancer Moonshot, a collective effort to leverage public and private resources to reduce the number of lives lost to cancer in the Indo-Pacific, with an initial focus on cervical cancer. Altogether, the Quad Cancer Moonshot announced today is projected to save hundreds of thousands of lives over the coming decades. More information can be found here.

    Pandemic Preparedness

    Quad countries are committed to supporting health security and resiliency efforts across the region, including continued support for the Pandemic Fund.

    The Quad reaffirms commitment to bolstering health security across the Indo-Pacific region. In 2024, the Quad Health Security Partnership advanced regional resilience through the second pandemic preparedness table top exercise, building on the success of the Quad Vaccine Partnership to enhance prevention, early detection, and response to potential disease outbreaks, and is exploring developing Standard Operating Procedures for Pandemic Response. The Quad’s collaborative efforts included training health specialists from the Indo-Pacific to strengthen regional capabilities for health emergencies.

    India will host a workshop on pandemic preparedness and release a white paper outlining emergency public health responses.

    Australia is increasing the pool of public health specialists who are ready to deploy, in-country or in the region, in response to disease outbreaks, with the first training session to commence in Darwin, Australia, in the coming days.

    In coordination with Quad partners, the United States is pledging over $84.5 million to partner with fourteen countries in the Indo-Pacific region to strengthen capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease threats.

    Mpox

    In response to the current clade I mpox outbreak, as well as the ongoing clade II mpox outbreak, the Quad plans to coordinate our efforts to promote equitable access to safe, effective, quality-assured mpox vaccines, including where appropriate expanding vaccine manufacturing in low and middle-income countries.

    HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE AND DISASTER RELIEF (HADR)

    Twenty years ago, the Quad first came together to respond to the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, surging humanitarian assistance to affected countries. In 2022, Quad Foreign Ministers signed the Guidelines for the Quad Partnership on HADR in the Indo-Pacific. In May 2024, following a tragic landslide in Papua New Guinea, Quad countries coordinated their response in accordance with these guidelines. The Quad collectively provided over $5 million in humanitarian assistance. Quad partners continue to support Papua New Guinea in its longer-term resiliency efforts. The Quad continues to deepen HADR coordination and support partners in the region in their longer-term resiliency efforts.

    Quad governments are working to ensure readiness to rapidly respond, including through pre-positioning of essential relief supplies, in the event of a natural disaster; this effort extends from the Indian Ocean region, to Southeast Asia, to the Pacific.

    In the coming months, Quad HADR experts will conduct a tabletop exercise to prepare for potential future disasters in the region.

    Quad partners are working together to provide over $4 million in humanitarian assistance to support the people of Vietnam in light of the devastating consequences of Typhoon Yagi.

    MARITIME SECURITY

    Quad partners are working side-by-side with partners throughout the region to bolster maritime security, improve maritime domain awareness, and uphold a free and open Indo-Pacific.

    Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness and Maritime Training

    Quad Leaders launched the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA) at the 2022 Quad Leaders’ Summit in Tokyo. This initiative provides partners with near-real-time, cost-effective, cutting-edge radio frequency data, enabling them to better monitor their waters; counter illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing; respond to climate change and natural disasters; and enforce their laws within their waters.

    Since the announcement, in consultation with partners, the Quad has successfully scaled the program across the Indo-Pacific region—through the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency, with partners in Southeast Asia, to the Information Fusion Center—Indian Ocean Region, Gurugram. In doing so, the Quad has helped well over two dozen countries access dark vessel maritime domain awareness data, so they can better monitor the activities in their exclusive economic zones—including unlawful activity.

    In the next phase of implementation, announced today, the Quad intends to layer new technology and data into IPMDA over the coming year, to continue to deliver cutting edge capability and information to the region. The Quad intends to leverage electro-optical data and advanced analytic software to sharpen the maritime domain awareness picture for partners.

    Today the Quad announced a new regional Maritime Initiative for Training in the Indo-Pacific (MAITRI) to enable our partners in the region Indo-Pacific partners to maximize tools provided through IPMDA and other Quad partner initiatives, to monitor and secure their waters, enforce their laws, and deter unlawful behavior. The Quad countries look forward to India hosting the inaugural MAITRI workshop in 2025.

    Quad countries are coordinating comprehensive and complementary training across the full suite of legal, operational, and technical maritime security and law enforcement knowledge domains. Quad partners have pledged to expand engagement with regional maritime law enforcement fora, share best practices, and improve civil maritime cooperation.

    Indo-Pacific Logistics Network

    The Quad launches today a Quad Indo-Pacific Logistics Network pilot project, to pursue shared airlift capacity among the four nations and leverage collective logistics strengths, in order to support civilian response to natural disasters more rapidly and efficiently across the Indo-Pacific region. This effort will complement existing efforts with Indo-Pacific partners.

    Coast Guard Cooperation

    The U.S. Coast Guard, Japan Coast Guard, Australian Border Force, and Indian Coast Guard plan to launch a first-ever Quad-at-Sea Ship Observer Mission in 2025 in the Indo-Pacific to improve interoperability. Through this effort, members of Japan Coast Guard, Australian Border Force, and Indian Coast Guard will spend time on board a U.S. Coast Guard vessel operating in the Indo-Pacific. The Quad intends to continue with further missions in the Indo-Pacific.

    QUALITY INFRASTRUCTURE

    The Quad is delivering quality, resilient infrastructure to the region to increase connectivity, build regional capacity, and meet critical needs.

    This year, the Quad countries’ export credit agencies (ECAs) signed and are implementing a Memorandum of Cooperation, which supports supply chain resilience, critical and emerging technologies, renewable energy, and other high-quality projects in the Indo-Pacific. Quad ECAs are strengthening communication on pipeline information and provision of relevant financing for projects in the Indo-Pacific region, and will pursue joint business promotion efforts that involve industry experts, project developers, and other major market players.

    The Quad released joint Principles for Development and Deployment of Digital Public Infrastructure, underscoring the Quad’s commitment to an inclusive, open, sustainable, fair, safe, reliable, and secure digital future to advance shared prosperity and sustainable development.

    The Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure organized a workshop in India to empower partners across the Indo-Pacific to strengthen power sector resilience.

    Quad Ports of the Future Partnership

    The Quad Ports of the Future Partnership will harness the Quad’s expertise to support sustainable and resilient port infrastructure development across the Indo-Pacific, in collaboration with regional partners.

    In 2025, Quad partners intend to hold the inaugural Regional Ports and Transportation Conference, hosted by India in Mumbai.

    Through this new partnership, Quad partners intend to coordinate, exchange information, share best practices with partners in the region, and leverage resources to mobilize government and private sector investments in quality port infrastructure across the Indo-Pacific region.

    Quad Infrastructure Fellows

    The Quad Infrastructure Fellowship was announced at the 2023 Quad Leaders’ Summit to improve capacity and deepen professional networks across the region to design, manage, and attract investment in infrastructure projects. Over the past year, it has expanded to more than 2,200 experts, and Quad partners have already provided well over 1,300 fellowships.

    Undersea Cables and Digital Connectivity

    Through the Quad Partnership for Cable Connectivity and Resilience, Quad partners continue to support and strengthen quality undersea cable networks in the Indo-Pacific, the capacity, durability, and reliability of which are inextricably linked to the security and prosperity of the region and the world.

    In support of these efforts, Australia launched the Cable Connectivity and Resilience Centre in July, which is delivering workshops and policy and regulatory assistance in response to requests from across the region.

    Japan has conducted capacity building trainings to enhance connectivity and resilience in the Indo-Pacific through cooperation with specialized agencies and international organizations. Japan intends to further extend technical cooperation to improve public information and communication technology infrastructure management capacity for an undersea cable in Nauru and Kiribati.

    The United States has conducted over 1,300 capacity building trainings for telecommunication officials and executives from 25 countries in the Indo-Pacific; today the U.S. announces its intent, working with Congress, to invest an additional $3.4 million to extend and expand this training program.

    Investments in cable projects by Quad partners will help support all Pacific island countries in achieving primary telecommunication cable connectivity by the end of 2025. Since the last Quad Leaders’ Summit, Quad partners have committed over $140 million to undersea cable builds in the Pacific, alongside contributions from other likeminded partners.

    Complementing these investments in new undersea cables, India has commissioned a feasibility study to examine expansion of undersea cable maintenance and repair capabilities in the Indo-Pacific.

    CRITICAL AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGY

    The Quad is working in lockstep to stay at the forefront of technology innovation, and remains committed to harnessing emerging technologies for the benefit of people across the Indo-Pacific, and deploying these technologies to facilitate economic prosperity, openness, and connectivity.

    Open Radio Access Network (RAN) and 5G

    In 2023, Quad partners announced the first-ever Open RAN deployment in the Pacific, in Palau, to support a secure, resilient, and interconnected telecommunications ecosystem. Since then, the Quad has committed approximately $20 million to this effort. Building on this initiative, the Quad announces an expansion of Open RAN collaboration to deliver trusted technology solutions.

    The Quad plans to expand support for ongoing Open RAN field trials and the Asia Open RAN Academy (AORA) in the Philippines, building on the initial $8 million in support that the United States and Japan pledged earlier this year.

    In addition, the United States plans to invest over $7 million to support the global expansion of AORA, including through establishing a first-of-its-kind Open RAN workforce training initiative at scale in South Asia, in partnership with Indian institutions.

    Quad partners also welcome the opportunity to explore additional Open RAN projects in Southeast Asia.

    Quad partners will also explore collaborating with the Tuvalu Telecommunications Corporation to ensure the country’s readiness for nationwide 5G deployment.

    Artificial Intelligence (AI)

    Through the Advancing Innovations for Empowering NextGen Agriculture (AI-ENGAGE) initiative announced at the 2023 Quad Leaders’ Summit, Quad governments are deepening leading-edge collaborative research to harness artificial intelligence, robotics, and sensing, to transform agricultural approaches and empower farmers across the Indo-Pacific. The Quad announces an inaugural $7.5+ million in funding opportunities for joint research, and highlights the recent signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation among the four countries’ science agencies to connect research communities and advance shared research principles.

    The Quad recognizes the importance of advancing international efforts to achieve safe, secure and trustworthy artificial intelligence systems, including through the outcomes of the Hiroshima AI Process, GPAI New Delhi Ministerial Declaration 2023, and UN General Assembly resolution 78/625 on “Seizing the opportunities of safe, secure and trustworthy artificial intelligence systems for sustainable development.” The Quad seeks to further deepen international cooperation on artificial intelligence systems and interoperability among artificial intelligence governance frameworks.

    Quad countries, through the Standards Sub-Group, launched two Track 1.5 dialogues on AI and Advanced Communications Technologies to promote international standardization cooperation, including frameworks for AI conformity assessment.

    Biotechnology

    The Quad partners look forward to launching the BioExplore Initiative – a joint effort supported by an initial $2 million in funding to use AI technology to study and analyze biological ecosystems across all four countries. This initiative will help advance our ability to discover and use the diverse capabilities found in living organisms to yield new products and innovations with the potential to diagnose and treat disease, develop resilient crops, generate clean energy, and much more. The initiative will also aim to build technological capacity across the Quad nations.

    This project will also be underpinned by the forthcoming Quad Principles for Research and Development Collaborations in Critical and Emerging Technologies, which advances sustainable, responsible, safe and secure collaborations in biotechnologies and other critical technologies among the Quad and across the region.

    Semiconductors

    Quad Leaders welcome the finalization of a Memorandum of Cooperation for the Semiconductor Supply Chains Contingency Network to facilitate collaboration in addressing semiconductor supply chain risks.

    The Quad Investors Network

    The Quad Investors Network (QUIN) is a nonprofit initiative launched at the 2023 Quad Leaders’ Summit. The QUIN aims to accelerate investments in critical and emerging technologies across the Indo-Pacific region, bringing together investors, entrepreneurs, technologists, and public institutions from the Quad countries to support innovation that aligns with the Quad’s shared values and promotes economic growth, resilience, and regional stability. This year, the QUIN supported ten major strategic investments and partnerships across the Quad in the critical minerals, renewable energy, cybersecurity, and aerospace sectors.

    The QUIN has advanced additional frameworks to foster the development of new technologies and facilitate investment partnerships for emerging startups, including through finalizing a Memorandum of Understanding for the creation of a startup campus in Tokyo, supported by the QUIN and the Chiba Institute of Technology’s Center for Radical Transformation.

    The QUIN is also working to establish a new venture accelerator in Tokyo through a collaboration between the University of Tokyo, Northeastern University, and the QUIN. These collaborations will not only fuel technological advancements but also strengthen the economic ties among the Quad nations, contributing to a more integrated and resilient Indo-Pacific region.

    Finally, the QUIN developed a Quantum Center of Excellence, which produced a report this year highlighting ways each Quad country’s Quantum ecosystems can work together to collectively leverage capital and expertise.

    CLIMATE AND CLEAN ENERGY

    The Quad recognizes the existential threat climate change poses to the world, the Indo-Pacific, and in particular island nations in the Pacific and in the Indian Ocean region, and is taking ambitious steps to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change, promote clean energy innovation and adoption, and support sustainable development.

    Climate Adaptation

    The Quad intends to expand its Early Warning Systems and the Climate Information Services Initiative (CIS), announced at the 2023 Leaders’ Summit. This will help improve Pacific Island countries’ access to high-quality climate data and services, and increase partners’ capacity to prepare for and respond to climate change and its impacts.

    The United States plans to provide 3D-printed automatic weather stations to the Pacific in 2025 to support local weather and climate forecasts, and also train experts in Fiji with the goal of operating a regional center to develop and deploy this technology.

    Australia is also strengthening Early Warning Systems through Weather Ready Pacific, a Pacific-led initiative supported by the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders in 2021 that drives and delivers on the EWS4ALL UN initiative in the Pacific.

    Japan is also enhancing cooperation with Pacific Island countries under its “Pacific Climate Resilience Initiative”, inter alia, by strengthening disaster risk reduction and preparedness through satellite technology and by promoting clean energy through capacity building and installation of renewable energies.

    The Quad also plans to train experts in Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu to better monitor and forecast flash floods, for timely and accurate warnings, reducing human and economic losses from flash floods.

    Clean Energy

    Our countries intend to strengthen our cooperation to align policies, incentives, standards, and investments around creating high-quality, diversified clean energy supply chains that will enhance our collective energy security, create new economic opportunities across the region, and benefit local workers and communities around the world, particularly across the Indo-Pacific. We will work together, through policy and public finance, to operationalize our commitment to catalyzing complementary and high-standard private sector investment in allied and partner clean energy supply chains. We note the uniquely complementary capabilities Quad partners share across the battery supply chain, and pledge to focus near-term efforts on strengthening mineral production, recycling, and battery manufacturing across our respective industries.

    Quad Leaders announced a Quad Clean Energy Supply Chain Diversification Program last year, which aims to support the development of secure and diversified clean energy supply chains in the Indo-Pacific region. Australia will open applications for the Quad Clean Energy Supply Chains Diversification Program in November, providing AUD 50 million to support projects that develop and diversify solar panel, hydrogen electrolyzer and battery supply chains. Secure and diversified clean energy supply chains are an integral part of achieving the Indo-Pacific’s collective energy security, emissions reduction goals and transition to a net zero future.

    India commits to invest $2 million in new solar projects in Fiji, Comoros, Madagascar, and Seychelles.

    Japan has committed to $122 million grants and loans, both public and private, in renewable energy projects in the Indo-Pacific.

    The United States, through the DFC, has extended a $250 million loan to Tata Power Solar to construct a solar cell manufacturing facility and a $500 million loan to First Solar to construct and operate a solar module manufacturing facility in India, and continues to seek opportunities to mobilize private capital to solar, as well as wind, cooling, batteries, and critical minerals to expand capacity and diversify supply chains.

    The Quad announces an initiative to boost energy efficiency, including the deployment and manufacturing of affordable, high-efficiency, cooling systems, to enable climate-vulnerable communities to adapt to rising temperatures while simultaneously reducing strain on the electricity grid. The United States intends to invest an initial $1.25 million of technical assistance financing to this effort.

    CYBER SECURITY

    The Quad is working together to build a more resilient, secure, and complementary cyber security environment for Quad countries and partners.

    The Quad has [developed/released] the Quad Action Plan to Protect Commercial Undersea Telecommunications Cables, to advance the Quad’s shared vision for future digital connectivity, global commerce, and prosperity.

    Quad countries are also partnering with software manufacturers, industry trade groups, and research centers to expand the Quad’s commitment to pursuing secure software development standards and certification, as endorsed in the Quad’s 2023 Secure Software Joint Principles.

    Quad partners will work to harmonize these standards to not only ensure that the development, procurement, and end-use of software for government networks is more secure, but that the cyber resilience of our supply chains, digital economies, and societies are collectively improved.

    Throughout this fall, each Quad country plans to host events to mark the annual Quad Cyber Challenge promoting responsible cyber ecosystems, public resources, and cybersecurity awareness. This year’s Cyber Challenge campaigns will focus on establishing career pathway programs to increase the number and diversity of global cybersecurity professionals, including increased participation by women, in this rapidly growing field. Last year’s Quad Cyber Challenge included over 85,000 participants across the Indo-Pacific region.

    Capacity building projects like the Quad Cyber Bootcamp and the international conference on cyber capacity building in the Philippines are important initiatives to enhance cybersecurity and workforce development in the Indo-Pacific region.

    The Quad is undertaking joint efforts to identify and mitigate vulnerabilities to national security and protection of critical infrastructure networks, and coordinate more closely including on policy responses to sharing of cyber threat information on significant cybersecurity incidents affecting shared priorities.

    COUNTERING DISINFORMATION

    The Quad is working together to foster a resilient information environment, including through its Countering Disinformation Working Group, by supporting media freedom and addressing foreign information manipulation and interference, including disinformation, which undermines trust and sows discord in the international community.

    PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE TIES

    Quad countries are building enduring ties between their peoples. Stakeholders from Quad countries have participated in International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) and other exchanges, on topics related to cyber security, workforce development for critical and emerging technologies, women in STEM, government transparency and accountability, combating disinformation, and regional maritime governance.

    The Quad Fellowship

    Together with the Institute of International Education, which leads implementation of the Quad Fellowship, Quad governments welcome the second cohort of Quad Fellows and the expansion of the program to include students from ASEAN countries for the first time. The Government of Japan is supporting the program to enable Quad Fellows to study in Japan. The Quad welcomes the generous support of private sector partners for the next cohort of fellows, including Google, the Pratt Foundation, and Western Digital.

    The Quad looks forward to the Quad Fellowship Summit in Washington, DC, in October, organized by the Institute of International Education.

    Additional People-to-People Initiatives

    India announces a new initiative to award fifty Quad scholarships, worth $500,000, to students from the Indo-Pacific to pursue a 4-year undergraduate engineering program at a Government of India-funded technical institution.

    SPACE

    The Quad recognizes the essential contribution of space-related applications and technologies in the Indo-Pacific. The four countries plan to continue delivering Earth Observation data and other space-related applications to assist nations across the Indo-Pacific to strengthen climate early warning systems and better manage the impacts of extreme weather events.

    The Quad welcomes India’s establishment of a space-based web portal for Mauritius to support the concept of open science for space-based monitoring of extreme weather events and climate impact.

    Space Situational Awareness Initiative

    Quad partners intend to share expertise and experience in space situational awareness (SSA), contributing to long-term sustainability of the space environment. Cooperation is intended to leverage SSA and space traffic coordination capabilities in the civil domain, including to help avoid collisions in outer space and manage debris.

    COUNTERING TERRORISM

    The Quad hosted its first Counter Terrorism Working Group (CTWG) in 2023 and will meet annually to discuss CT threats, Quad CT good practices, and ways the Quad can work together to mitigate acts of terrorism through information sharing, consequence management and strategic messaging. The Quad CTWG currently focuses on countering the use of unmanned aerial systems (C-UAS), chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear devices (CBRN), and the internet for terrorist purposes. The Quad CTWG discusses new CT lines of effort on which to collaborate, hosts technical workshops for establishing CT good practices, and explores ways to engage non-Quad members with Quad-established CT expertise.

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  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Joint Fact Sheet: The United States and India Continue to Expand Comprehensive and Global Strategic Partnership

    Source: Government of India (2)

    Posted On: 22 SEP 2024 8:51AM by PIB Delhi

    Today, United States President Joseph R. Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi affirmed that the U.S.-India Comprehensive Global and Strategic Partnership, the defining partnership of the 21st century, is decisively delivering on an ambitious agenda that serves the global good. The Leaders reflected on a historic period that has seen the United States and India reach unprecedented levels of trust and collaboration. The Leaders affirmed that the U.S.-India partnership must be anchored in upholding democracy, freedom, the rule of law, human rights, pluralism, and equal opportunities for all as our countries strive to become more perfect unions and meet our shared destiny. The Leaders commended the progress that has made the U.S.-India Major Defense Partnership a pillar of global security and peace, highlighting the benefits of increased operational coordination, information-sharing, and defense industrial innovation. President Biden and Prime Minister Modi expressed unrelenting optimism and the utmost confidence that the tireless efforts of our peoples, our civic and private sectors, and our governments to forge deeper bonds have set the U.S.-India partnership on a path toward even greater heights in the decades ahead.

    President Biden expressed his immense appreciation for India’s leadership on the world stage, particularly Prime Minister Modi’s leadership in the G-20 and in the Global South and his commitment to strengthen the Quad to ensure a free, open, and prosperous Indo-Pacific. India is at the forefront of efforts to seek solutions to the most pressing challenges, from supporting the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic to addressing the devastating consequences of conflicts around the world. President Biden commended Prime Minister Modi for his historic visits to Poland and Ukraine, the first by an Indian Prime Minister in decades, and for his message of peace and ongoing humanitarian support for Ukraine, including its energy sector, and on the importance of international law, including the UN charter. The Leaders reaffirmed their support for the freedom of navigation and the protection of commerce, including critical maritime routes in the Middle East where India will assume co-lead in 2025 of the Combined Task Force 150 to work with Combined Maritime Forces to secure sea lanes in the Arabian Sea. President Biden shared with Prime Minister Modi that the United States supports initiatives to reform global institutions to reflect India’s important voice, including permanent membership for India in a reformed U.N. Security Council. The Leaders voiced their view that a closer U.S.-India partnership is vital to the success of efforts to build a cleaner, inclusive, more secure, and more prosperous future for the planet.

    President Biden and Prime Minister Modi applauded the success of the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) in deepening and expanding strategic cooperation across key technology sectors, including space, semiconductors, and advanced telecommunications. Both Leaders committed to enhance regular engagements to improve the momentum of collaboration in fields such as artificial intelligence, quantum, biotechnology, and clean energy. They highlighted ongoing efforts to strengthen collaboration with like-minded partners, including through the Quad and a U.S.-India-ROK Trilateral Technology initiative launched earlier this year to build more secure and resilient supply chains for critical industries and ensure we collectively remain at the leading edge of innovation. The Leaders directed their governments to redouble efforts to address export controls, enhance high technology commerce, and reduce barriers to technology transfer between our two countries, while addressing technology security, including through the India-U.S. Strategic Trade Dialogue. Leaders also endorsed new mechanisms for deeper cyberspace cooperation through the bilateral cybersecurity dialogue. The Leaders recommitted to expand the manufacturing and deployment of clean energy, including finding opportunities to expand U.S.-India cooperation in solar, wind and nuclear energy and the development of small modular reactor technologies.

    Charting a Technology Partnership for the Future

    President Biden and Prime Minister Modi hailed a watershed arrangement to establish a new semiconductor fabrication plant focused on advanced sensing, communication, and power electronics for national security, next generation telecommunications, and green energy applications. The fab, which will be established with the objective of manufacturing infrared, gallium nitride and silicon carbide semiconductors, will be enabled by support from the India Semiconductor Mission as well as a strategic technology partnership between Bharat Semi, 3rdiTech, and the U.S. Space Force.

    The Leaders praised combined efforts to facilitate resilient, secure, and sustainable semiconductor supply chains including through GlobalFoundries’ (GF) creation of the GF Kolkata Power Center in Kolkata, India that will enhance mutually beneficial linkages in research and development in chip manufacturing and enable game-changing advances for zero and low emission as well as connected vehicles, internet of things devices, AI, and data centers. They noted GF’s plans to explore longer term, cross-border manufacturing and technology partnerships with India which will deliver high-quality jobs in both of our countries. They also celebrated the new strategic partnership between the U.S. Department of State and the India Semiconductor Mission, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology in connection with the International Technology Security and Innovation (ITSI) Fund.

    The Leaders welcomed steps our industry is taking to build safe, secure, and resilient supply chains for U.S., Indian, and international automotive markets, including through Ford Motor Company’s submission of a Letter of Intent to utilize its Chennai plant to manufacture for export to global markets.

    The Leaders welcomed progress toward the first joint effort by NASA and ISRO to conduct scientific research onboard the International Space Station in 2025. They appreciated the initiatives and exchange of ideas under the Civil Space Joint Working Group and expressed hope that its next meeting in early 2025 will open additional avenues of cooperation. They pledged to pursue opportunities to deepen joint innovation and strategic collaborations, including by exploring new platforms in civil and commercial space domains.

    The Leaders also welcomed efforts to enhance collaboration between our research and development ecosystems. They plan to mobilize up to $90+ million in U.S. and Indian government funding over the next five years for the U.S.-India Global Challenges Institute to support high-impact R&D partnerships between U.S. and Indian universities and research institutions, including through identifying options to implement the Statement of Intent signed at the June 2024 iCET meeting. The Leaders also welcomed the launch of a new U.S.-India Advanced Materials R&D Forum to expand collaboration between American and Indian universities, national laboratories, and private sector researchers.

    The Leaders announced the selection of 11 funding awards between the National Science Foundation and India’s Department of Science and Technology, supported by a combined $5+ million grant to enable joint U.S.-India research projects in areas such as next-generation telecommunications, connected vehicles, machine learning. The Leaders announced the award of 12 funding awards under the National Science Foundation and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, research collaboration with a combined outlay of nearly $10 million to enable joint U.S.-India basic and applied research in the areas of semiconductors, next generation communication systems, sustainability & green technologies and intelligent transportation systems. Furthermore, NSF and MeitY are exploring new opportunities for research collaboration to enhance and synergize the basic and applied research ecosystem on both sides.

    The Leaders celebrated that India’s Department of Biotechnology (DBT) along with National Science Foundation of the United States announced the first joint call for collaborative research projects in February 2024 to address complex scientific challenges and innovate novel solutions that leverage advances in synthetic and engineering biology, systems and computational biology, and other associated fields that are foundational to developing future biomanufacturing solutions and advance the bioeconomy. Under the first call for proposals, joint research teams responded enthusiastically and results are likely to be announced by the end of 2024.

    The Leaders also highlighted additional cooperation we are building across artificial intelligence (AI), quantum, and other critical technology areas. They highlighted the second convening of the U.S.-India Quantum Coordination Mechanism in Washington in August and welcomed the announcement of seventeen new awards for binational research and development cooperation on artificial intelligence and quantum via the U.S.-India Science and Technology Endowment Fund (IUSSTF). They welcomed new private sector cooperation on emerging technologies, such as through IBM’s recent conclusion of memoranda of understanding with the Government of India, which will enable IBM’s watsonx platform on India’s Airawat supercomputer and drive new AI innovation opportunities, enhance R&D collaboration on advanced semiconductor processors, and increase support for India’s National Quantum Mission.

    The Leaders commended ongoing efforts to build more expansive cooperation around 5G deployment and next-generation telecommunications; this includes the U.S. Agency for International Development’s plans to expand the Asia Open RAN Academy with an initial $7 million investment to grow this workforce training initiative worldwide, including in South Asia with Indian institutions.

    The Leaders welcomed progress since the November 2023 signing of an MOU between the Commerce Department and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to enhance the two countries’ innovation ecosystems under the “Innovation Handshake” agenda. Since then, the two sides have convened two industry roundtables in the U.S. and India to bring together startups, private equity and venture capital firms, corporate investment departments, and government officials to forge connections and to accelerate investment in innovation.

    Powering a Next Generation Defense Partnership

    President Biden welcomed the progress towards India concluding procurement of 31 General Atomics MQ-9B (16 Sky Guardian and 15 Sea Guardian) remotely piloted aircraft and their associated equipment, which will enhance the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities of India’s armed forces across all domains.

    The Leaders recognized the remarkable progress under the U.S.-India Defense Industrial Cooperation Roadmap, including ongoing collaboration to advance priority co-production arrangements for jet engines, munitions, and ground mobility systems. They also welcomed efforts to expand defense industrial partnerships, including the teaming of Liquid Robotics and Sagar Defence Engineering for the co-development and co-production of unmanned surface vehicle systems that strengthen undersea and maritime domain awareness. The Leaders applauded the recent conclusion of the Security of Supply Arrangement (SOSA), enhancing the mutual supply of defense goods and services. Both Leaders committed to advance ongoing discussions on aligning their respective defense procurement systems to further enable the reciprocal supply of defense goods and services.

    President Biden welcomed India’s decision to set a uniform Goods and Services Tax (GST) of 5 percent on the maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) sector, including on all aircraft and aircraft engine parts thereby simplifying the tax structure and paving the way for building a strong ecosystem for MRO services in India. The Leaders also encouraged the industry to foster collaboration and drive innovation to support India’s efforts to become a leading aviation hub. The Leaders welcomed commitments from U.S. industry to further increase India’s MRO capabilities, including for the repair of aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles.

    The Leaders hailed the teaming agreement on the C-130J Super Hercules aircraft recently signed between Lockheed Martin and Tata Advanced Systems Limited, the two companies that co-chair the U.S.-India CEO Forum. Building on longstanding industry cooperation, this agreement will establish a new Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility in India to support the readiness of the Indian fleet and global partners who operate the C-130 Super Hercules aircraft. This marks a significant step in U.S.-India defense and aerospace cooperation and reflects the two sides’ deepening strategic and technology partnership ties.

    The Leaders lauded the growing defense innovation collaboration between our governments, businesses, and academic institutions fostered by the India-U.S. Defense Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X) initiative launched in 2023, and noted progress achieved during the third INDUS-X Summit in Silicon Valley earlier this month. They welcomed the enhanced collaboration between the Indian Ministry of Defence’s Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) and US Department of Defence’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) through the Memorandum of Understanding signed at the Silicon Valley Summit. The efforts via the INDUSWERX consortium to facilitate pathways for defense and dual-use companies in the INDUS-X network to access premier testing ranges in both countries, were appreciated.

    The Leaders also recognized the clear fulfillment of the shared goal to build a defense innovation bridge under INDUS-X through the launch of “joint challenges” designed by the U.S. DoD’S DIU and the Indian MoD’s Defence Innovation Organization (DIO). In 2024, our governments have separately awarded $1+ million to U.S. and Indian companies that developed technologies focused on undersea communications and maritime intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR). Building on this success, a new challenge was announced at the most recent INDUS-X Summit that focused on Space Situational Awareness (SSA) in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

    The Leaders welcomed ongoing efforts to deepen our military partnership and interoperability to maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific, noting that India hosted our most complex, largest bilateral, tri-service exercise to date during the March 2024 TIGER TRIUMPH exercise. They also welcomed the inclusion of new technologies and capabilities, including a first-ever demonstration of the Javelin and Stryker systems in India, on the margins of the ongoing bilateral Army YUDH ABHYAS exercise.

    The Leaders welcomed the conclusion of the Memorandum of Agreement regarding the Deployment of Liaison Officers, and the commencement of deployment process of the first Liaison Officer from India in US Special Operations Command (SOCOM).

    The Leaders commended work to advance cooperation in advanced domains, including space and cyber, and looked forward towards the November 2024 bilateral cyber engagement to enhance the U.S.-India cyber cooperation framework. Areas of new cooperation will include threat information sharing, cybersecurity training, and collaboration on vulnerability mitigation in energy and telecommunications networks. The Leaders also noted the second U.S.-India Advanced Domains Defense Dialogue in May 2024, which included the first-ever bilateral defense space table-top exercise.

    Catalyzing the Clean Energy Transition

    President Biden and Prime Minister Modi welcomed the U.S.-India Roadmap to Build Safe and Secure Global Clean Energy Supply Chains, which launched a new initiative to accelerate the expansion of safe and secure clean energy supply chains through U.S. and Indian manufacturing of clean energy technologies and components. In its initial phase, the U.S. and India would work together to unlock $1 billion of multilateral financing to support projects across the clean energy value chain for renewable energy, energy storage, power grid and transmission technologies, high efficiency cooling systems, zero emission vehicles, and other emerging clean technologies.

    The Leaders also highlighted the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC)’s partnership with India’s private sector to expand clean energy manufacturing and diversify supply chains. To date, DFC has extended a $250 million loan to Tata Power Solar to construct a solar cell manufacturing facility and a $500 million loan to First Solar to construct and operate a solar module manufacturing facility in India.

    The Leaders lauded the strong collaboration under the Strategic Clean Energy Partnership (SCEP), most recently convened on September 16, 2024 in Washington DC to strengthen energy security, create opportunities for clean energy innovation, address climate change and create employment generation opportunities, including through capacity building, and collaboration between industry and R&D.

    The Leaders welcomed collaboration on a new National Center for Hydrogen Safety in India and affirmed their intent to utilize the new Renewable Energy Technology Action Platform (RETAP) to enhance collaboration on clean energy manufacturing and global supply chains, including through public-private task forces on hydrogen and energy storage.

    The Leaders also announced a new Memorandum of Cooperation between the U.S. Agency for International Development and the International Solar Alliance aimed at promoting more responsive and sustainable power systems that leverage diverse renewable energy sources.

    The Leaders reaffirmed their commitment to accelerate the development of diverse and sustainable supply chains for critical minerals under the Minerals Security Partnership targeting strategic projects along the value chain. The Leaders looked forward to the signing of the Critical Minerals Memorandum of Understanding at the forthcoming U.S.-India Commercial Dialogue and pledged to hasten bilateral collaboration to secure resilient critical minerals supply chains through enhanced technical assistance and greater commercial cooperation.

    The Leaders welcomed the progress made on joint efforts since 2023 for India to work toward IEA membership in accordance with the provisions of the Agreement on an International Energy Program.

    The two Leaders reaffirmed their commitment to accelerating the manufacturing and deployment of renewable energy, battery storage and emerging clean technology in India. They welcomed the ongoing progress between India’s National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation to provide up to $500 million each to anchor the Green Transition Fund as well as encourage private sector investors to match these efforts. Both sides look forward to the expeditious operationalization of the Green Transition Fund.

    Empowering Future Generations and Promoting Global Health and Development

    The Leaders welcomed India’s signature and ratification of the Agreements under Pillar III, Pillar IV and the overarching Agreement on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF). The Leaders underscored that IPEF seeks to advance resilience, sustainability, inclusiveness, economic growth, fairness, and competitiveness of the economies of its signatories. They noted the economic diversity of the 14 IPEF partners that represents 40 percent of global GDP and 28 percent of global goods and services trade.

    President Biden and Prime Minister Modi celebrated the new U.S.-India Drug Policy Framework for the 21st Century and its accompanying Memorandum of Understanding, which will deepen collaboration to disrupt the illicit production and international trafficking of synthetic drugs and precursor chemicals, and deepen a holistic public health partnership.

    The two Leaders signaled their commitment to the objectives of the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drugs Threats and work towards combatting the threat of synthetic drugs and their precursors through mutually agreed initiatives to promote public health through coordinated actions.

    The Leaders applauded the first-ever U.S.-India Cancer Dialogue held in August 2024, which brought together experts from both countries to increase research and development to accelerate the rate of progress against cancer. The Leaders applauded the recently launched Bio5 partnership between the United States, India, ROK, Japan, and the EU, driving closer cooperation on pharmaceutical supply chains. The Leaders applauded the Development Finance Corporation’s $50 million loan to Indian company Panacea Biotech to manufacture hexavalent (six-in-one) vaccines for children, reaffirming our joint commitment to advance shared global health priorities, including bolstering support for primary healthcare.

    The leaders welcomed the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Small Business Administration for promoting cooperation between U.S. and Indian small and medium-size enterprises by improving their participation in the global market place through capacity building workshops in areas such as trade and export finance, technology and digital trade, green economy and trade facilitation. The MoU also provides for the joint conduct of programs for women entrepreneurs to empower them and facilitate trade partnership between women-owned small businesses of the two countries. The Leaders celebrated that, since the June 2023 State visit, the Development Finance Corporation has invested $177 million across eight projects to support Indian small businesses and drive economic growth.

    The Leaders welcomed enhanced cooperation on agriculture between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and India’s Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, in areas such as climate-smart agriculture, agriculture productivity growth, agriculture innovation, and sharing best practices related to crop risk protection and agriculture credit. The two sides will also enhance cooperation with the private sector through discussions on regulatory issues and innovation to enhance bilateral trade.

    The Leaders welcomed the formal launch of the new U.S.-India Global Digital Development Partnership, which aims to bring together U.S. and Indian private sector companies, technology and resources to deploy the responsible use of emerging digital technologies in Asia and Africa.

    The Leaders welcomed strengthened trilateral cooperation with Tanzania through the Triangular Development Partnership, led by the U.S. Agency for International Development and India’s Development Partnership Administration to jointly address global development challenges and foster prosperity in the Indo-Pacific. The partnership focuses on advancing renewable energy projects, including solar energy, to enhance energy infrastructure and access in Tanzania, thereby bolstering energy cooperation in the Indo-Pacific. They also desired to explore the expansion of the triangular development partnership in areas of health cooperation, particularly for critical technical areas of mutual interest including digital health and capacity building of nurses and other frontline health workers.

    The Leaders acknowledged the July 2024 signing of a bilateral Cultural Property Agreement that will facilitate implementation of the 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export, and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. The agreement marked the culmination of years of diligent work by experts from both countries and fulfills President Biden’s and Prime Minister Modi’s commitment to enhance cooperation to protect cultural heritage highlighted in the joint statement when they met in June 2023. In this context, the leaders welcomed the repatriation of 297 Indian antiquities from the U.S. to India in 2024.

    The Leaders look forward to building on India’s ambitious G20 presidency to deliver on shared priorities for the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Rio de Janeiro, including: bigger, better, and more effective MDBs, including by following through on Leaders’ pledges in New Delhi to boost the World Bank’s capacity to help developing countries address global challenges, while recognizing the imperative of achieving the sustainable development goals; a more predictable, orderly, timely and coordinated sovereign debt restructuring process; and a pathway to growth for high-ambition developing countries that are facing financing challenges amid mounting debt burdens by increasing access to finance and unlocking fiscal space taking into account country specific circumstances.

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    MJPS/ST/SKS

    (Release ID: 2057458) Visitor Counter : 70

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Fact Sheet: Quad Countries Launch Cancer Moonshot Initiative to Reduce the Burden of Cancer in the Indo-Pacific

    Source: Government of India (2)

    Posted On: 22 SEP 2024 8:55AM by PIB Delhi

    Today, the United States, Australia, India, and Japan are launching a groundbreaking effort to help end cancer as we know it in the Indo-Pacific, starting with cervical cancer, a largely preventable disease that continues to be a major health crisis in the region, and laying the groundwork to address other forms of cancer as well. This initiative is part of a broader set of announcements made at the Quad Leaders Summit .

    The Quad Cancer Moonshot will serve to strengthen the overall cancer care ecosystem in the Indo-Pacific by improving health infrastructure, expanding research collaborations, building data systems, and providing greater support for cancer prevention, detection, treatment, and care.

    Cervical cancer, while preventable through vaccination and usually treatable if detected early, remains the third leading cause of cancer deaths among women in the Indo-Pacific region. Fewer than one in 10 women in the Indo-Pacific have completed their human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination series, and fewer than 10% have undergone recent screening. Many countries in the region face challenges related to healthcare access, limited resources, and disparities in vaccination rates. Through this initiative, Quad countries will work to address these gaps by promoting HPV vaccination, increasing access to screenings, and expanding treatment options and care in underserved areas.

    Altogether, our scientific experts assess that the Quad Cancer Moonshot will save hundreds of thousands of lives over the coming decades. These steps build on the Biden-Harris Administration’s steadfast commitment to ending cancer as we know it. More than two years ago, President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden reignited the Cancer Moonshot with the goals of reducing the cancer death rate in the United States by at least half—preventing more than 4 million cancer deaths—by 2047, and improving the experience of people who are touched by cancer.

    Cancer is a global challenge that requires collective action and cooperation beyond any single nation’s effort. By working together, the Quad aims to implement innovative strategies to prevent, detect, treat and alleviate the impact of cancer on patients and their families. Quad partners also intend to work, within respective national contexts, to collaborate in advancing research and development in the area of cancer and to increase private sector and non-governmental sector activities in support of reducing the burden of cervical cancer in the region. Today Quad countries are pleased to announce the following ambitious commitments from our governments and non-government contributors:

    QUAD COUNTRIES

    Quad countries intend to continue their strong commitments to Gavi including with HPV vaccines in the Indo-Pacific, with the United States making an early pledge of at least $1.58 billion over five years.

    In addition, Quad countries will work together with United Nations agencies on bulk purchasing of HPV diagnostics to bring down the cost of cervical cancer screening, and work with the International Atomic Energy Agency to improve access to and quality of medical imaging and radiation therapy.

    United States

    The Department of Defense, through the U.S. Navy, intends to support HPV vaccine expert exchanges with Indo-Pacific partners, starting in 2025. This partnership will enable healthcare professionals from partner nations to receive hands-on training, build capacity, and strengthen healthcare systems across the Indo-Pacific, focusing on preventive health services like HPV vaccination. The initiative aims to bolster regional cooperation on cancer and promote health security in the region.

    The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Oncology Center of Excellence intends to arrange a technical visit to India within the next twelve months to set up collaborations with stakeholders under FDA’s ‘Project Asha’. Working together with the FDA India Office, leading oncologists, patient advocacy groups, clinical trial sponsors, and government stakeholders, this new partnership will focus on capacity-building efforts, including education on the design, conduct, and management of clinical trials, promoting international standards, helping streamline approval processes, sharing regulatory expertise, and increasing cancer clinical trial access.

    The U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) intends to expand its support as a leading funder of global cancer research and global cancer research training in the Indo-Pacific region. This portfolio currently includes nearly 400 active projects involving investigators and institutions in South Asia, East Asia, and the Pacific, including major investments specifically focused on testing cervical cancer vaccination, screening, and treatment interventions and strategies that can meet the needs of women and girls worldwide. The NCI will also expand its support for global cancer control efforts more broadly through scientific support provided to countries via the International Cancer Control Partnership, International Agency for Research on Cancer, and World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center.

    The NCI will expand ongoing collaborations with nations in the Indo-Pacific region to provide evidence-based cancer information for health professionals and people affected by cancer to this global audience. NCI will aim to support the public education needs of the Quad Cancer Moonshot Initiative by providing its expert-curated, comprehensive, and authoritative cancer information to health professionals and patients in the Indo-Pacific. This will include a comprehensive collection of information on cancer topics such as adult and pediatric cancer treatment, screening, prevention, genetics, supportive and palliative care, and integrative, alternative, and complementary therapies, including extensive information related to the screening, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cervical cancer.

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will support HPV vaccination programs, improve vaccine distribution and strengthen cancer surveillance and prevention systems in the Indo-Pacific region. This will include working with the Philippines Ministry of Health on an HPV vaccination program evaluation, focusing on behavioral and social drivers to inform future vaccine distribution. CDC will also contribute to broader cancer control efforts by supporting cancer control plan development to strengthen the overall cancer care ecosystem in the region.

    CDC intends to provide technical assistance and disseminate best practices informed by pilot cervical cancer screening studies in the U.S. Pacific territories and freely associated states, as well as continuing to support CDC-funded national cancer control programs in U.S. Pacific Island Jurisdictions (PIJs). These efforts will involve sharing evidence-based strategies to improve early detection of cervical cancer. In addition, CDC intends to disseminate an implementation guide that can assist PIJ efforts to improve their screening capacity and encourage partnerships to promote cervical cancer screening, including guidance on how to build medical and laboratory capacity to conduct primary HPV testing and follow-up tests, and improve data systems to monitor screening to enhance cancer prevention and care infrastructure.

    The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) will look to support eligible private sector-driven projects to prevent, diagnose, and treat cancer, including cervical cancer. In particular, DFC will look to accelerate the deployment of innovative approaches and technologies to underserved communities.

    The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) will look to provide critical financial and technical support to expand HPV vaccination access. The U.S. government, through USAID has made an unprecedented pledge of at least $1.58 billion to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which will bolster global efforts to increase vaccine coverage, including HPV vaccines, in low- and middle-income countries, helping to protect millions of women and girls from cervical cancer across the Indo-Pacific and beyond.

    The State Department, through Global Health Security and Diplomacy (GHSD)-President’s Emergency Plan for Relief (PEPFAR), will share best practices on the rapid scale-up of cervical cancer screening and treatment efforts among people living with HIV, including commodity procurement and health system strengthening in low-and-middle-income countries. This collaboration will enhance the integration of cervical cancer screening into existing HIV treatment programs, increasing access to life-saving interventions. It will also focus on improving supply chains for essential medical supplies needed for screening and treatment.

    Australia

    Through Australian Government and philanthropic contributions, total funding commitments to the Elimination Partnership in the Indo-Pacific for Cervical Cancer (EPICC) consortium will expand to AUD $29.6 million. EPICC is a new program that builds on decades of research and clinician leadership to advance the elimination of cervical cancer across the Indo-Pacific by improving HPV-related policies, planning and readiness in any country in the region. EPICC is piloting HPV programs for future scale-up in Timor-Leste and Solomon Islands, expanding sub-national vaccination programs to support country readiness in Malaysia, Fiji and Papua New Guinea, and supporting the establishment of national sustained HPV elimination programs in Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Nauru. EPICC works across six priority areas to eliminate cervical cancer, including strengthening primary prevention through HPV vaccination support, secondary prevention of cervical cancer through HPV screening and treatment for pre-cancer, laboratory strengthening for cervical cancer screening and diagnosis, digital health work to generate data for decision making and strengthened models of care, supporting cervical cancer management (across both treatment and palliative care), and policy and modelling support across all pillars of the cervical cancer elimination pathway.

    With a total Australian Government commitment of AUD 16.5 million [$11 million], the expanded EPICC project will extend its reach to more women in the Indo-Pacific. It will also support partner organizations in the region working on cervical cancer elimination to participate in the next Global Forum on Cervical Cancer Elimination, which will have a strong Indo-Pacific focus.

    Through their charity Minderoo Foundation, Dr. Andrew Forrest AO and Nicola Forrest AO are expanding a lifesaving contribution to EPICC with a further AUD13.1 million [$8.81 million]. This additional funding will see EPICC expanded to up to 11 countries in the region and brings Minderoo’s total commitment to AUD21.7 million. The expanded program will see 140,000 women in the Pacific region screened over the next 4 years, as well as the establishment of national elimination programs and the empowerment of governments to sustain the program for future generations of women and girls.

    India

    India will share technical expertise in digital health through its National Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) portal. As part of its $10 million commitment to support the World Health Organization (WHO) led Global Initiative on Digital Health, India will provide technical assistance to the Indo-Pacific region. This includes offering technical support for the use of its National Non-Communicable Disease portal, which tracks long-term data on cancer screening and care.

    India commits to providing HPV sampling kits, detection tools and cervical cancer vaccines worth $7.5 million to the Indo-Pacific region. This significant contribution aims to strengthen local efforts to prevent and detect cervical cancer and empower communities with affordable, accessible tools for early detection and prevention, while supporting vaccination programs to reduce the disease burden across the region.

    India is scaling up population-based screening for oral, breast, and cervical cancers through its National Progamme for Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases. In particular, India uses the Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid (VIA) method for cervical cancer screening, which is simple, cost effective and efficient and allows healthcare workers to detect early signs of cervical cancer without the need for advanced laboratory infrastructure, making it a model for other regions in the Indo-Pacific.

    India is expanding access to specialized cancer treatment centers under its “Strengthening of Tertiary Care Cancer Centres” program. The Government of India is supporting both states and union territories to improve treatment capacity across the county, ensuring that people from all parts of the country, including underserved areas, can receive high-quality care.

    India is committed to affordable cancer treatment through Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY). As part of its broader health coverage efforts, PMJAY, India is committed to providing affordable cancer treatments to its citizens, ensuring financial protection for those most in need.

    India’s commitment to cervical cancer elimination is further supported by implementation research led by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The research is focused on enhancing cervical cancer screening, early diagnosis and initiation of treatment. The results and findings will be shared with the Indo-Pacific countries in the coming years, to strengthen regional collaboration.

    Japan

    Japan is providing medical equipment, including Computed Tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanners, and other assistance worth approximately $27 million, to countries in the Indo-Pacific region. These countries include Cambodia, Vietnam, and Timor-Leste, as well as contributing to international organizations.

    Through the Japan International Cooperation Agency and other organizations, Japan has committed approximately $75 million from FY2019 to FY2023 in the Indo-Pacific to combatting cancer including cervical cancer. This includes providing relevant medical equipment and facilities, medical diagnosis, health system strengthening, and technical assistance.

    Japan is committed to improving the access to vaccines and promoting the women’s health including the prevention and control of cervical cancer through Global Health Initiatives or International Organizations such as Gavi, UNFPA, IPPF. Japan intends to continue its commitment to support this initiative.

    Toward the achievement of universal health coverage, Japan intends to strengthen capacity for addressing cancer including cervical cancer in the Indo-Pacific region by health system strengthening. Japan will also continue to support combatting cancer including cervical cancer in the region through National Cancer Center Japan’s partnership with each Quad country’s cancer related institution.

    NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS

    Collaboration with the private and non-profit sectors of all Quad countries is indispensable to the success of this initiative, as their collective innovation, resources, and commitment will be critical in advancing progress against cancer in the Indo-Pacific region. Quad countries are pleased to announce the following actions from non-government contributors:

    Improving Access to Cancer Screening and Prevention

    The World Bank is significantly increasing its commitment to cervical cancer prevention and treatment in the Indo-Pacific region through a comprehensive health systems approach, including $400 million in HPV-related investments globally over the next three years. In line with its broader goal to provide quality, affordable health services to 1.5 billion people by 2030, the World Bank, along with the Global Financing Facility (GFF) for Women, Children, and cervical cancer. With projects in countries such as Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and the Philippines, the World Bank is supporting cervical cancer screening, HPV vaccination, and treatment by integrating these services into primary healthcare systems. This includes expanding access to screening for underserved populations, strengthening service delivery, and leveraging partnerships to improve diagnostics and treatment. In addition, the World Bank is working to address supply chain challenges and ensure the sustainable production and distribution of HPV vaccines, with a focus on increasing access across the region. Through this approach, the World Bank aims to create sustainable and equitable health systems that can address the growing burden of cervical cancer and support long-term health outcomes for women and girls across the Indo-Pacific.

    Women investors and philanthropists of the Women Health and Economic Empowerment Network (WHEN) will deploy a joint investment of more than $100 million over the next three years, with funding targeted for cervical cancer in Southeast Asia. These funds will be working to fill essential gaps for improving the prevention, screening, diagnosis, and treatment of cervical cancer. WHEN’s women investors and philanthropists will deploy grant, concessional, and investment capital into HPV screening, medical imaging, pathology, radiotherapy, training for healthcare workers, and the solarization of health facilities.

    The Serum Institute of India, in partnership with Gavi, will support the procurement of up to 40 million doses of the HPV vaccine for distribution across the Indo-Pacific region. This commitment can be expanded based on demand, ensuring a steady supply of vaccines to address the cervical cancer burden in underserved areas. By increasing access to lifesaving vaccines, this commitment will help prevent cervical cancer and promote equitable healthcare across the region.

    The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, alongside other donors and countries earlier this year, committed to support cervical cancer elimination. The foundation announced it intends to commit up to US$180 million over four years to help accelerate the global uptake of HPV vaccines, develop new prophylactic HPV and therapeutic vaccines and diagnostic tools and fund clinical studies.

    Sabin Vaccine Institute, through the Global HPV Consortium (GHC), will support a new country-based coalition to promote cervical cancer elimination. The Cervical Cancer Elimination Consortium-India (CCEC-I) will collaborate with the Government of India, wherever appropriate, to pilot “100 Cervical Cancer Mukt (Cancer Free) Districts” through their integrated SAVE Strategy: Screening, Access to Treatment, Vaccination, Education. This is in continuation of GHC’s commitment to the Indo-Pacific region, having previously collaborated with Indonesia’s Ministry of Health to support development of their National Cervical Cancer Elimination Plan.

    Jhpiego, in partnership with the Philippines Department of Health and with support from Roche, is increasing awareness, demand and access for cervical cancer screening by educating women on the importance of HPV testing and the risk of cervical cancer. The Centralized Laboratory Model of Screening project is expanding coverage of cervical cancer screening with introduction of the WHO elimination strategy-recommended high performance HPV testing, and thermal ablation treatment for precancers, in five highly urbanized Local Government Units of the Philippines – with strengthened referral pathways to ensure a pathway to treatment.

    Illumina is committed to supporting the development and adoption of genomic diagnostic tests to fulfill the promise of precision medicine in the Indo-Pacific Region. The objective of this initiative is to ensure that advanced-stage (>50%) and non-HPV driven (~5%) cervical cancer patients receive correct diagnoses and possible suitable therapies such as Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors and immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI). Similar initiatives are being explored with gynecological oncology organizations in Australia and Japan.

    Roche Diagnostics is expanding its cervical cancer screening and diagnosis initiatives in the Indo-Pacific region. Roche Diagnostics will expand efforts in the Indo-Pacific to increasing access to screening and raising awareness building on the experience gained in partnership with Japan including on providing education to women, training healthcare workers, and developing digital solutions for efficient follow-up care; and in partnership with Australia on promoting cervical cancer screening among under-screened and never-screened groups, including Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, and culturally diverse communities.

    Becton Dickinson & Co. (BD) is making comprehensive investments in cervical cancer screening in the Indo-Pacific. BD is working with Obstetric and Gynecological Societies to deliver education for clinicians on cervical cancer screening best practices, with an aim of reaching over 1,200 clinicians and support staff by early 2025. BD is also investing in pilots to inform the design of large-scale HPV screening rollout and programs to reach under-served communities. Through their longstanding partnership with Direct Relief, BD is working with the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) to facilitate screening for over 20,000 women. Under the program, 400 screening camps will offer screening, diagnosis and mental health support.

    Improving Cancer Care Delivery

    Project ECHO will accelerate cervical cancer elimination in the Indo-Pacific region through 10 new learning networks that facilitate effective and accessible prevention and care. More than 180 public health organizations in 33 countries leverage the ECHO Model, an evidence-based training and mentorship framework for community-based health care professionals, to improve cancer care delivery. By 2028, Project ECHO will launch at least 10 new communities of practice, with local partners and ministries of health in Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and other Indo-Pacific countries to accelerate cervical cancer elimination, including programs for HPV vaccine implementation, treatment of precancerous lesions, and use of essential curative therapies.

    The American Cancer Society is committed to reduce the global burden of HPV-related cancers by increasing support of civil society organizations globally, including in the Indo-Pacific Region. Support for these organizations, initially focused on cancer civil society organizations and medical societies, includes catalytic grants and technical assistance for implementing evidence-based, low-cost behavioral interventions aimed at optimizing the demand and uptake of life-saving prevention services through widespread healthcare provider trainings.

    The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) will update its global guidelines on the Management and Care of Women with Invasive Cervical Cancer to incorporate new recommendation-changing scientific evidence on optimal approaches to the treatment of cervical cancer. Once completed, ASCO will work with its members, including their Asia Pacific Regional Council, and partner oncology societies in the Indo-Pacific to support the usage of these guidelines, along with companion guidelines on primary and secondary prevention of cervical cancer, by cancer clinicians for improved patient outcomes in the region.

    The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is expanding its Rays of Hope initiative to strengthen radiotherapy and medical imaging capacities in the Indo-Pacific region. Through this initiative, 13 countries and territories have requested support, and efforts are already underway to raise awareness and increase cervical cancer screening rates. The IAEA has designated cancer institutes in Japan, and India as Rays of Hope Anchor Centres, serving as hubs for capacity building in education, training, research, innovation, and quality assurance.

    The Union for International Cancer Control is committed to working with its 1150 members across 172 countries to address inequities and drive global action in cervical cancer elimination, including in the Indo-Pacific region over the next three years as part of the ‘Elimination Partnership in the Indo-Pacific for Cervical Cancer’. Leveraging flagship convening platforms, established learning opportunities, alongside its rich network and proven ability to collaborate across sectors, UICC will support national partners to improve access to care, sustain progress and ultimately, reduce the burden of cancer for populations around the world.

    Increasing Capacity for Cancer Research, Infrastructure, and Training

    Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Australia’s Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney launch a $40 million public-private partnership that will advance international clinical trials of precision oncology and liquid biopsy technologies, including for the detection and elimination of cervical cancer. A generous donation of $20 million to each institution from Australian philanthropists Mr. Gregory John Poche and the late Mrs. Kay Van Norton Poche, will support this public-private partnership, accelerating the development of cutting-edge diagnostic and treatment tools for the Indo-Pacific region and beyond.

    Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS) will support organizations in the Indo-Pacific region in their ability to prevent, detect, and treat cervical cancer, will provide cloud computing credits and enable access to AWS and datasets via the Registry of Open Data on AWS. Researchers are using AWS to identify patterns and variances from datasets secured from the Cancer Genome Atlas and others through AWS.

    Pfizer will expand the INDovation initiative to build oncology capacity at the primary care level in the Indo-Pacific. INDovation was launched by Pfizer two years ago to support local startups. Under the program, Pfizer has awarded nearly $1 million in grants to startups, including those related to cervical cancer, and worked in partnership with the government and universities. Pfizer is now expanding the program to focus on oncology with the goal of strengthening primary care health centers. Under this phase, Pfizer will award grants to up to 10 startups that can deploy solutions to help enhance early diagnosis and patient services at the primary care setting with potential deployment across primary health centers in the region.

    Elekta will expand radiotherapy capacity in the Indo-Pacific, closing an important treatment gap in the region to contribute to eliminating cervical cancer. Initiatives include establishing radiotherapy training centers in Southeast Asia, conducting treatment courses with regional medical centers and implementing cloud-based platforms to improve quality of care in radiotherapy through knowledge sharing, and peer review sessions among the member centers of the Asia-Pacific radiation oncology network.

    MD Anderson commits to expanding their cervical cancer research, training and education programs to the Indo-Pacific region. MD Anderson currently collaborates with the Ministry of Health of Indonesia on the implementation and evaluation of cervical cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment programs and helps train medical providers in-country to perform colposcopy, ablation, loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP), and surgery. MD Anderson commits to expanding these programs to ministries of health in the Indo-Pacific interested in partnerships to eliminate cervical cancer.

    Increasing Cancer Awareness and Education to Empower People

    Hologic, a global leader in diagnostic and medical imaging solutions for cervical and breast cancer, is working with government agencies and health care providers in the Indo-Pacific region to educate and raise awareness on cervical cancer. Hologic is currently expanding access to innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence in cervical cancer screening to scale population-based programs to overcome provider shortages in the Indo-Pacific region. In addition, Hologic commits to the continued publication of the Global Women’s Health Index, a comprehensive global survey about women’s health, filling a critical gap in what the world knows about the health and well-being of the world’s women and girls.

    The Global Initiative Against HPV and Cervical Cancer will promote HPV vaccination, cervical screening and early treatment projects with partners and collaborators in the Indo-Pacific Region. These efforts will include organizing the Asia-Pacific Workshop in Bangkok to share knowledge and best practices within the region and expanding awareness efforts to further enhance awareness initiatives throughout the Indo-Pacific.

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  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Roadmap For U.S.-India Initiative to Build Safe and Secure Global Clean Energy Supply Chains

    Source: Government of India (2)

    Posted On: 22 SEP 2024 8:12AM by PIB Delhi

    The United States and India share an enduring commitment to deepen our collaboration on issues of shared national and economic security. As an important aspect of our economic growth agendas, we are committed to working together to capture the benefits of the clean energy transition, including the creation of high-quality jobs for our populations, acceleration of clean energy deployment globally, and achievement of global climate goals.

    In support of these objectives, the United States and India intend to elevate and expand bilateral technical, financial, and policy support to expand complementary U.S. and Indian manufacturing capacity for clean energy technologies and components and lay the groundwork for enhanced cooperation in third countries, with a focus on partnerships in Africa. This effort will build on existing clean energy cooperation between the United States and India, including clean energy initiatives launched during Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the United States in 2023, the Strategic Clean Energy Partnership led by the U.S. Department of Energy and Government of India ministries, technical assistance provided by U.S. laboratories, and novel financial platforms such as the Payment Security Mechanism established to support the rapid deployment of electric buses in India. A U.S. and Indian partnership to establish a shared, resilient, and cutting-edge techno-industrial base centered on innovative clean energy manufacturing techniques sets a strong example for the world and positions our countries to lead clean economic development in the 21st century. 

    To launch this partnership, the United States and India are working to unlock USD$1 billion in new multilateral finance through the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) for projects that include catalyzing India’s domestic clean energy supply chain buildout. The funding could support supply-side manufacturing capacity expansion for key technology verticals, focusing on solar, wind, battery, energy grid systems, and high-efficiency air conditioner and ceiling fan supply chains. Over time, we seek to mobilize additional financing into priority clean energy manufacturing sectors that harness public and private financial tools and pioneer innovative financial vehicles to meet the rapid demand for flexible climate finance solutions.

    The United States and India intend to work with relevant government agencies, civil society, U.S. and Indian private sectors, philanthropies, and multilateral development banks to identify a package of pilot projects across the clean energy value chain that meet our eligibility criteria and meaningfully contribute to supply chain expansion and diversification in identified sectors. The U.S. and Indian governments also pledge to work with industry leaders on the following lines of effort to launch and eventually scale this new partnership: 

    Identifying near-term investment opportunities to expand manufacturing capacity for specific clean energy supply chain segments, with initial focuses on the following clean energy components:

    Solar wafers and wafer manufacturing equipment & next generation solar cells

    Wind turbine nacelle components

    Power transmission line components including conductors, cabling, transformers, and next generation technologies

    Energy storage components including batteries

    Battery packs for 2- and 3-wheel electric vehicles (EVs) and zero-emission e-bus and truck components

    High-efficiency air conditioners and ceiling fan components

    Collaborating with the private sector to scope eligible opportunities in the above supply chain segments and support an initial package of pilot projects, ideally including one project focused on clean energy deployment to Africa. Additional investments plans and sources of funding can be developed over time. This effort would build on private sector partnerships facilitated by U.S. Development Finance Corporation (DFC) across the solar, wind, battery, and critical minerals sectors to pursue opportunities to finance the manufacture of clean energy components. Such investments may be in scope for India’s Green Transition Fund – which will support renewable energy, storage, and e-mobility investments in India and strengthen demand for localized manufacturing – as well as for Indian private equity fund manager Eversource Capital’s new DFC-supported $900 million fund to invest in clean technologies such as renewable energy, efficient cooling, and electric transportation.

    Building trilateral relationships with African partners that have stated political commitments to clean energy deployment, focusing on solar and battery storage opportunities. India and the United States can work multilaterally with African partners to pursue high-potential solar and EV deployment opportunities, understand the conditions required for project success, detail the partnerships and financial model for project success, and implement the project. The United States intends to collaborate with Indian companies to explore investment opportunities and facilitate public-private matchmaking expand partnerships with local African manufacturers. DFC and the U.S. Agency for International Development are anchoring this effort by collaborating with India-based International Solar Alliance to deploy solar and EV charging networks near health facilities.

    Collaborating with each other and industry to consult on policies that will strengthen demand certainty for locally manufactured clean technologies. The U.S. Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act were historic laws designed to invest in the large-scale deployment of clean energy technologies while also reinvigorating the manufacturing capacity of the United States to appropriately onshore clean energy supply chains. Likewise, India’s Production Linked Incentive Schemes have invested over $4.5 billion to catalyze nascent clean energy manufacturing. However, additional policies are vital to expand and protect these investments in the face of global market dynamics and thin profit margins. Both countries acknowledge the importance of sharing insights on how to design policy frameworks to reduce demand uncertainties and ensure sufficient input materials, technological expertise, finance, and other manufacturing enablers are available and secure.

    This roadmap is intended to serve as a short-term mechanism for driving initial cooperation on projects, to help inform a long-term roadmap including working together to establish a cadence of meetings and milestones this partnership. This roadmap is not intended to give rise to rights or obligations under domestic or international law.

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  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: The Wilmington Declaration Joint Statement from the Leaders of Australia, India, Japan, and the United States

    Source: Government of India (2)

    Posted On: 22 SEP 2024 8:15AM by PIB Delhi

    Today, we—Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, Prime Minister Kishida Fumio of Japan, and President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. of the United States—met for the fourth in-person Quad Leaders Summit, hosted by President Biden in Wilmington, Delaware.

    Four years since elevating the Quad to a leader-level format, the Quad is more strategically aligned than ever before and is a force for good that delivers real, positive, and enduring impact for the Indo-Pacific. We celebrate the fact that over just four years, Quad countries have built a vital and enduring regional grouping that will buttress the Indo-Pacific for decades to come.

    Anchored by shared values, we seek to uphold the international order based on the rule of law. Together we represent nearly two billion people and over one-third of global gross domestic product. We reaffirm our steadfast commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific that is inclusive and resilient. Through our cooperation, the Quad is harnessing all of our collective strengths and resources, from governments to the private sector to people-to-people relationships, to support the region’s sustainable development, stability, and prosperity by delivering tangible benefits to the people of the Indo-Pacific.

    As four leading maritime democracies in the Indo-Pacific, we unequivocally stand for the maintenance of peace and stability across this dynamic region, as an indispensable element of global security and prosperity. We strongly oppose any destabilizing or unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion. We condemn recent illicit missile launches in the region that violate UN Security Council resolutions. We express serious concern over recent dangerous and aggressive actions in the maritime domain. We seek a region where no country dominates and no country is dominated—one where all countries are free from coercion, and can exercise their agency to determine their futures. We are united in our commitment to upholding a stable and open international system, with its strong support for human rights, the principle of freedom, rule of law, democratic values, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and peaceful settlement of disputes and prohibition on the threat or use of force in accordance with international law, including the UN Charter.

    Reflecting the Vision Statement issued by Leaders at the 2023 Quad Summit, we are and will continue to be transparent in what we do. Respect for the leadership of regional institutions, including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), and the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), is and will remain at the center of the Quad’s efforts.

    A Global Force for Good

    Health Security

    The COVID-19 pandemic reminded the world how important health security is to our societies, our economies, and the stability of our region. In 2021 and 2022, the Quad came together to deliver more than 400 million safe and effective COVID-19 doses to Indo-Pacific countries and almost 800 million vaccines globally, and provided $5.6 billion to the COVAX Advance Market Commitment for vaccine supply to low and middle-income countries. In 2023, we announced the Quad Health Security Partnership, through which the Quad continues to deliver for partners across the region, including through the delivery of pandemic preparedness training.

    In response to the current clade I mpox outbreak, as well as the ongoing clade II mpox outbreak, we plan to coordinate our efforts to promote equitable access to safe, effective, quality-assured mpox vaccines, including where appropriate expanding vaccine manufacturing in low and middle-income countries.

    Today we are proud to announce the Quad Cancer Moonshot, a groundbreaking partnership to save lives in the Indo-Pacific region. Building on the Quad’s successful partnership during the COVID-19 pandemic, our collective investments to address cancer in the region, our scientific and medical capabilities, and contributions from our private and non-profit sectors, we will collaborate with partner nations to reduce the burden of cancer in the region.

    The Quad Cancer Moonshot will focus initially on combatting cervical cancer—a preventable cancer that continues to claim too many lives—in the Indo-Pacific region, while laying the groundwork to address other forms of cancer as well. The United States intends to support this initiative, including through U.S. Navy medical trainings and professional exchanges around cervical cancer prevention in the region starting in 2025, and through U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) openness to finance eligible private sector-driven projects to prevent, diagnose, and treat cancer, including cervical cancer. Australia is announcing the expansion of the Elimination Partnership in the Indo-Pacific for Cervical Cancer Program (EPICC) with support of the Australian Government and the Minderoo Foundation to AUD 29.6 million, to cover up to eleven countries in the Indo-Pacific in helping advance the elimination of cervical cancer and support complementary initiatives focused on cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. India commits to providing HPV sampling kits, detection kits, and cervical cancer vaccines worth $7.5 million to the Indo-Pacific region. India, through its $10 million commitment to the WHO’s Global Initiative on Digital Health, will offer technical assistance to interested countries in the Indo-Pacific region for the adoption and deployment of its Digital Public Infrastructure that helps in cancer screening and care. Japan is providing medical equipment, including CT and MRI scanners, and other assistance worth approximately $27 million, including in Cambodia, Vietnam, and Timor-Leste, and is contributing to international organizations such as the Gavi Vaccine Alliance. Quad partners also intend to work, within respective national contexts, to collaborate in advancing research and development in the area of cancer and to increase private sector and non-governmental sector activities in support of reducing the burden of cervical cancer in the region. We welcome a number of new, ambitious commitments from non-governmental institutions, including the Serum Institute of India, in partnership with Gavi, which will support orders of up to 40 million HPV vaccine doses, subject to necessary approvals, for the Indo-Pacific region, and which may be increased consistent with demand. We also welcome a new $100 million commitment from Women’s Health and Empowerment Network to address cervical cancer in Southeast Asia.

    Altogether, our scientific experts assess that the Quad Cancer Moonshot will save hundreds of thousands of lives over the coming decades.

    Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR)

    Twenty years since the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, when the Quad first came together to surge humanitarian assistance, we continue to respond to the vulnerabilities caused by natural disasters in the Indo-Pacific. In 2022, the Quad established the “Quad Partnership on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief in the Indo-Pacific” and signed Guidelines for the Quad Partnership on HADR in the Indo-Pacific, which enable Quad countries to rapidly coordinate in the face of natural disasters. We welcome Quad governments working to ensure readiness to rapidly respond, including through pre-positioning of essential relief supplies, in the event of a natural disaster; this effort extends from the Indian Ocean region, to Southeast Asia, to the Pacific.

    In May 2024, following a tragic landslide in Papua New Guinea, Quad partners collectively contributed over $5 million in humanitarian assistance. Quad partners are working together to provide over $4 million in humanitarian assistance to support the people of Vietnam in light of the devastating consequences of Typhoon Yagi. The Quad continues to support partners in the region in their longer-term resiliency efforts.

    Maritime Security

    In 2022, we announced the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA) to offer near-real-time, integrated, and cost-effective maritime domain awareness information to partners in the region. Since then, in consultation with partners, we have successfully scaled the program across the Indo-Pacific region—through the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency, with partners in Southeast Asia, to the Information Fusion Center—Indian Ocean Region, Gurugram. In doing so, the Quad has helped well over two dozen countries access dark vessel maritime domain awareness data, so they can better monitor the activities in their exclusive economic zones—including unlawful activity. Australia commits to boosting its cooperation with the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency to enhance regional maritime domain awareness in the Pacific through satellite data, training, and capacity building.

    Today we are announcing a new regional Maritime Initiative for Training in the Indo-Pacific (MAITRI), to enable our partners in the region to maximize tools provided through IPMDA and other Quad partner initiatives, to monitor and secure their waters, enforce their laws, and deter unlawful behavior. We look forward to India hosting the inaugural MAITRI workshop in 2025. Furthermore, we welcome the launch of a Quad maritime legal dialogue to support efforts to uphold the rules-based maritime order in the Indo-Pacific. In addition, Quad partners intend to layer new technology and data into IPMDA over the coming year, to continue to deliver cutting edge capability and information to the region.

    We are also announcing today that the U.S. Coast Guard, Japan Coast Guard, Australian Border Force, and Indian Coast Guard, plan to launch a first-ever Quad-at-Sea Ship Observer Mission in 2025, to improve interoperability and advance maritime safety, and continuing with further missions in future years across the Indo-Pacific. 

    We also announce today the launch of a Quad Indo-Pacific Logistics Network pilot project, to pursue shared airlift capacity among our nations and leverage our collective logistics strengths, in order to support civilian response to natural disasters more rapidly and efficiently across the Indo-Pacific region.

    Quality Infrastructure

    The Quad remains committed to improving the region’s connectivity through the development of quality, resilient infrastructure.

    We are pleased to announce the Quad Ports of the Future Partnership, which will harness the Quad’s expertise to support sustainable and resilient port infrastructure development across the Indo-Pacific, in collaboration with regional partners. In 2025, we intend to hold a Quad Regional Ports and Transportation Conference, hosted by India in Mumbai. Through this new partnership, Quad partners intend to coordinate, exchange information, share best practices with partners in the region, and leverage resources to mobilize government and private sector investments in quality port infrastructure across the Indo-Pacific region.

    We applaud the expansion of the Quad Infrastructure Fellowships to more than 2,200 experts, and note that Quad partners have already provided well over 1,300 fellowships since the initiative was announced at last year’s Summit. We also appreciate the workshop organized by the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure in India, working to empower partners across the Indo-Pacific to strengthen power sector resilience.

    Through the Quad Partnership for Cable Connectivity and Resilience, we continue to support and strengthen quality undersea cable networks in the Indo-Pacific, the capacity, durability, and reliability of which are inextricably linked to the security and prosperity of the region and the world. In support of these efforts, Australia launched the Cable Connectivity and Resilience Centre in July, which is delivering workshops and policy and regulatory assistance in response to requests from across the region. Japan will extend technical cooperation to improve public ICT infrastructure management capacity for an undersea cable in Nauru and Kiribati. The United States has conducted over 1,300 capacity building trainings for telecommunication officials and executives from 25 countries in the Indo-Pacific; today the U.S. announces its intent, working with Congress, to invest an additional $3.4 million to extend and expand this training program.

    Investments in cable projects by Quad partners will help support all Pacific island countries in achieving primary telecommunication cable connectivity by the end of 2025. Since the last Quad Leaders’ Summit, Quad partners have committed over $140 million to undersea cable builds in the Pacific, alongside contributions from other likeminded partners. Complementing these investments in new undersea cables, India has commissioned a feasibility study to examine expansion of undersea cable maintenance and repair capabilities in the Indo-Pacific.

    We reaffirm our support for the Pacific Quality Infrastructure Principles, which are an expression of Pacific voices on infrastructure.

    We underscore our commitment to an inclusive, open, sustainable, fair, safe, reliable and secure digital future to advance our shared prosperity and sustainable development across the Indo-Pacific. In this context, we welcome the Quad Principles for Development and Deployment of Digital Public Infrastructure.

    Critical and Emerging Technologies

    Today, we are proud to announce an ambitious expansion of our partnership to deliver trusted technology solutions to the broader Indo-Pacific region.

    Last year, Quad partners launched a landmark initiative to deploy the first Open Radio Access Network (RAN) in the Pacific, in Palau, to support a secure, resilient, and interconnected telecommunications ecosystem. Since then, the Quad has pledged approximately $20 million to this effort.

    Quad partners also welcome the opportunity to explore additional Open RAN projects in Southeast Asia. We plan to expand support for ongoing Open RAN field trials and the Asia Open RAN Academy (AORA) in the Philippines, building on the initial $8 million in support that the United States and Japan pledged earlier this year. The United States also plans to invest over $7 million to support the global expansion of AORA, including through establishing a first-of-its-kind Open RAN workforce training initiative at scale in South Asia, in partnership with Indian institutions.

    Quad partners will also explore collaborating with the Tuvalu Telecommunications Corporation to ensure the country’s readiness for nationwide 5G deployment.

    We remain committed to advancing our cooperation on semiconductors through better leveraging of our complementary strengths to realize a diversified and competitive market and enhance resilience of Quad’s semiconductor supply chains. We welcome a Memorandum of Cooperation between Quad countries for the Semiconductor Supply Chains Contingency Network.

    Through the Advancing Innovations for Empowering NextGen Agriculture (AI-ENGAGE) initiative announced at last year’s Summit, our governments are deepening leading-edge collaborative research to harness artificial intelligence, robotics, and sensing to transform agricultural approaches and empower farmers across the Indo-Pacific. We are pleased to announce an inaugural $7.5+ million in funding opportunities for joint research, and welcome the recent signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation between our science agencies to connect our research communities and advance shared research principles.

    The United States, Australia, India, and Japan look forward to launching the Quad BioExplore Initiative—a funded mechanism that will support joint AI-driven exploration of diverse non-human biological data across all four countries.

    This project will also be underpinned by the forthcoming Quad Principles for Research and Development Collaborations in Critical and Emerging Technologies.

    Climate and Clean Energy

    As we underscore the severe economic, social, and environmental consequences posed by the climate crisis, we continue to work together with Indo-Pacific partners, including through Quad Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Package (Q-CHAMP), to enhance climate and clean energy cooperation as well as promote adaptation and resilience. We emphasize the significant benefits of transitioning to a clean energy economy for our people, our planet, and our shared prosperity. Our countries intend to strengthen our cooperation to align policies, incentives, standards, and investments around creating high-quality, diversified clean energy supply chains that will enhance our collective energy security, create new economic opportunities across the region, and benefit local workers and communities around the world, particularly across the Indo-Pacific.

    We will work together, through policy and public finance, to operationalize our commitment to catalyzing complementary and high-standard private sector investment in allied and partner clean energy supply chains. To this end, Australia will open applications for the Quad Clean Energy Supply Chains Diversification Program in November, providing AUD 50 million to support projects that develop and diversify solar panel, hydrogen electrolyzer and battery supply chains in the Indo-Pacific. India commits to invest $2 million in new solar projects in Fiji, Comoros, Madagascar, and Seychelles. Japan has committed to $122 million grants and loans in renewable energy projects in Indo-Pacific countries. The United States, through DFC, will continue to seek opportunities to mobilize private capital to solar, as well as wind, cooling, batteries, and critical minerals to expand and diversify supply chains.

    We are pleased to announce a focused Quad effort to boost energy efficiency, including the deployment and manufacturing of high-efficiency affordable, cooling systems to enable climate-vulnerable communities to adapt to rising temperatures while simultaneously reducing strain on the electricity grid.

    We jointly affirm our commitment to addressing the challenges posed by climate change and ensure the resilience and sustainability of port infrastructure. Quad partners will leverage our learning and expertise to forge a path towards sustainable and resilient port infrastructure, including through the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).

    Cyber

    In the face of a deteriorating security environment in the cyber domain, Quad countries intend to enhance our cybersecurity partnership to address common threats posed by state-sponsored actors, cybercriminals, and other non-state malicious actors. Our countries commit to taking concrete steps to increase our collective network defense and advance technical capabilities through greater threat information sharing and capacity building. We plan to coordinate joint efforts to identify vulnerabilities, protect national security networks and critical infrastructure networks, and coordinate more closely including on policy responses to significant cybersecurity incidents affecting the Quad’s shared priorities.

    Quad countries are also partnering with software manufacturers, industry trade groups, and research centers to expand our commitmentto pursuing secure software development standards and certification, as endorsed in the Quad’s 2023 Secure Software Joint Principles. We will work to harmonize these standards to not only ensure that the development, procurement, and end-use of software for government networks is more secure, but that the cyber resilience of our supply chains, digital economies, and societies are collectively improved. Throughout this fall, Quad countries each plan to host campaigns to mark the annual Quad Cyber Challenge promoting responsible cyber ecosystems, public resources, and cybersecurity awareness. We are constructively engaging on the Quad Action Plan to Protect Commercial Undersea Telecommunications Cables, developed by the Quad Senior Cyber Group, as a complementary effort to the Quad Partnership for Cable Connectivity and Resilience. Our coordinated actions to protect global telecommunications infrastructure as guided by the Action Plan will advance our shared vision for future digital connectivity, global commerce, and prosperity. 

    Space

    We recognize the essential contribution of space-related applications and technologies in the Indo-Pacific. Our four countries intend to continue delivering Earth Observation data and other space-related applications to assist nations across the Indo-Pacific to strengthen climate early warning systems and better manage the impacts of extreme weather events. In this context, we welcome India’s establishment of a space-based web portal for Mauritius, to support the concept of open science for space-based monitoring of extreme weather events and climate impact.

    Quad Investors Network (QUIN)

    We welcome private sector initiatives—including the Quad Investors Network (QUIN), which facilitates investments in strategic technologies, including clean energy, semiconductors, critical minerals, and quantum. The QUIN is mobilizing a number of investments to promote supply chain resilience, advance joint research and development, commercialize new technologies, and invest in our future workforce.

    People-to-People Initiatives

    The Quad is committed to strengthening the deep and enduring ties between our people, and among our partners. Through the Quad Fellowship, we are building a network of the next generation of science, technology, and policy leaders. Together with the Institute of International Education, which leads implementation of the Quad Fellowship, Quad governments welcome the second cohort of Quad Fellows and the expansion of the program to include students from ASEAN countries for the first time. The Government of Japan is supporting the program to enable Quad Fellows to study in Japan. The Quad welcomes the generous support of private sector partners for the next cohort of fellows, including Google, the Pratt Foundation, and Western Digital.

    India is pleased to announce a new initiative to award fifty Quad scholarships, worth $500,000, to students from the Indo-Pacific to pursue a 4-year undergraduate engineering program at a Government of India-funded technical institution.

    Working Together to Address Regional and Global Issues

    Today we reaffirm our consistent and unwavering support for ASEAN centrality and unity. We continue to support implementation of the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) and are committed to ensuring the Quad’s work is aligned with ASEAN’s principles and priorities.

    We underscore ASEAN’s regional leadership role, including in the East Asia Summit, the region’s premier leader-led forum for strategic dialogue, and the ASEAN Regional Forum. As comprehensive strategic partners of ASEAN, our four countries intend to continue to strengthen our respective relationships with ASEAN and seek opportunities for greater Quad collaboration in support of the AOIP.

    We recommit to working in partnership with Pacific island countries to achieve shared aspirations and address shared challenges. We reaffirm our support for Pacific regional institutions that have served the region well over many years, with the PIF as the region’s premier political and economic policy organization, and warmly welcome Tonga’s leadership as the current PIF Chair in 2024-2025. We continue to support the objectives of the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent. We and our governments will continue to listen to and be guided at every step by Pacific priorities, including climate action, ocean health, resilient infrastructure, maritime security and financial integrity. In particular, we acknowledge climate change remains the single greatest threat to the livelihoods, security and wellbeing of the peoples of the Pacific and applaud Pacific island countries’ global leadership on climate action.

    We remain committed to strengthening cooperation in the Indian Ocean region. We strongly support IORA as the Indian Ocean region’s premier forum for addressing the region’s challenges. We recognize India’s leadership in finalizing the IORA Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (IOIP) and express our support for its implementation. We thank Sri Lanka for its continued leadership as IORA Chair through this year and look forward to India’s assuming the IORA Chair in 2025. 

    As Leaders, we are steadfast in our conviction that international law, including respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the maintenance of peace, safety, security and stability in the maritime domain, underpin the sustainable development, and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific. We emphasize the importance of adherence to international law, particularly as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), to address challenges to the global maritime rules-based order, including with respect to maritime claims. We are seriously concerned about the situation in the East and South China Seas. We continue to express our serious concern about the militarization of disputed features, and coercive and intimidating maneuvers in the South China Sea. We condemn the dangerous use of coast guard and maritime militia vessels, including increasing use of dangerous maneuvers. We also oppose efforts to disrupt other countries’ offshore resource exploitation activities.We reaffirm that maritime disputes must be resolved peacefully and in accordance with international law, as reflected in UNCLOS. We re-emphasize the importance of maintaining and upholding freedom of navigation and overflight, other lawful uses of the sea, and unimpeded commerce consistent with international law. We re-emphasize the universal and unified character of UNCLOS and reaffirm that UNCLOS sets out the legal framework within which all activities in the oceans and the seas must be carried out. We underscore that the 2016 Arbitral Award on the South China Sea is a significant milestone and the basis for peacefully resolving disputes between the parties.

    Together, with our global and regional partners, we continue to support international institutions and initiatives that underpin global peace, prosperity and sustainable development. We reiterate our unwavering support for the UN Charter and the three pillars of the UN system. In consultation with our partners, we will work collectively to address attempts to unilaterally undermine the integrity of the UN, its Charter, and its agencies. We will reform the UN Security Council, recognizing the urgent need to make it more representative, inclusive, transparent, efficient, effective, democratic and accountable through expansion in permanent and non-permanent categories of membership of the UN Security Council. This expansion of permanent seats should include representation for Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean in a reformed Security Council.

    We stand for adherence to international law and respect for principles of the UN Charter, including territorial integrity, sovereignty of all states, and peaceful resolution of disputes. We express our deepest concern over the war raging in Ukraine including the terrible and tragic humanitarian consequences. Each of us has visited Ukraine since the war began, and seen this first-hand; we reiterate the need for a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in line with international law, consistent with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, including respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity. We also note the negative impacts of the war in Ukraine with regard to global food and energy security, especially for developing and least developed countries. In the context of this war, we share the view that the use, or threat of use, of nuclear weapons is unacceptable. We underscore the importance of upholding international law, and in line with the UN Charter, reiterate that all states must refrain from the threat of or use of force against the territorial integrity and sovereignty or political independence of any state.

    We condemn North Korea’s destabilizing ballistic missile launches and its continued pursuit of nuclear weapons in violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions (UNSCRs). These launches pose a grave threat to international peace and stability. We urge North Korea to abide by all its obligations under the UNSCRs, refrain from further provocations and engage in substantive dialogue. We reaffirm our commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula consistent with relevant UNSCRs and call on all countries to fully implement these UNSCRs. We stress the need to prevent any proliferation of nuclear and missile technologies related to North Korea in the region and beyond. We express our grave concern over North Korea’s use of proliferation networks, malicious cyber activity and workers abroad to fund its unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs. In that context, we urge all UN Member States to abide by the relevant UNSCRs including the prohibition on the transfer to North Korea or procurement from North Korea of all arms and related materiel. We express deep concern about countries that are deepening military cooperation with North Korea, which directly undermines the global nonproliferation regime. As the mandate of the UN Panel of Experts tasked with monitoring violations of North Korea-related UNSCR sanctions was not renewed, we reiterate our commitment to continued implementation of the relevant UNSCRs which remain in full force. We reconfirm the necessity of immediate resolution of the abductions issue.

    We remain deeply concerned by the worsening political, security and humanitarian situation in Myanmar, including in Rakhine State, and again call for an immediate cessation of violence, the release of all those unjustly and arbitrarily detained, safe and unhindered humanitarian access, resolution of the crisis through constructive and inclusive dialogue among all stakeholders, and a return to the path of inclusive democracy. We reaffirm our strong support for ASEAN-led efforts, including the work of the ASEAN Chair and the Special Envoy of the ASEAN Chair on Myanmar. We call for full implementation of all commitments under the ASEAN Five-Point Consensus. The ongoing conflict and instability have serious implications for the region, including increases in transnational crime such as cybercrime, the illegal drug trade, and human trafficking. We restate our appeal to all States to prevent the flow of arms and dual-use material, including jet fuel. We remain resolute in our support for the people of Myanmar and commit to continuing to work with all stakeholders in a pragmatic and constructive way, to find a sustainable solution to the crisis in a process which is led by the people of Myanmar and returns Myanmar to the path of democracy.

    We call upon all States to contribute to the safe, peaceful, responsible, and sustainable use of outer space. We remain committed to fostering international cooperation and transparency, as well as confidence-building measures with the goal of improving the security of outer space for all States. We reaffirm the importance of upholding the existing international legal framework for outer space activities, including the Outer Space Treaty, and the obligation of all States Parties to the Treaty not to place in orbit around the Earth any objects carrying nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction, install such weapons on celestial bodies, or station such weapons in outer space in any other manner.

    The Quad reaffirms its commitment to fostering a resilient information environment including through its Countering Disinformation Working Group by supporting media freedom and addressing foreign information manipulation and interference, including disinformation, which undermines trust and sows discord in the international community. We recognize these tactics are intended to interfere with domestic and international interests, and we are committed, together with our regional partners, to leverage our collective expertise and capacity to respond. We reaffirm our commitment to respect international human rights law, strengthen civil society, support media freedom, address online harassment and abuse, including technology-facilitated gender-based violence, and counter unethical practices.

    We unequivocally condemn terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms and manifestations, including cross-border terrorism. We are committed to international cooperation and will work with our regional partners in a comprehensive and sustained manner to strengthen their capability to prevent, detect and respond to threats posed by terrorism and violent extremism, including threats posed by the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes, consistent with international law. We are committed to working together to promote accountability for the perpetrators of such terrorist attacks. We reiterate our condemnation of terrorist attacks including the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai and in Pathankot, and our commitment to pursuing designations, as appropriate, by the UN Security Council 1267 Sanctions Committee. We welcome the constructive discussions held at the first Quad Working Group on Counter-Terrorism and the fourth tabletop exercise in Honolulu last year, and look forward to Japan hosting the next meeting and tabletop exercise in November 2024.

    We share great interest in achieving peace and stability in the Middle East. We unequivocally condemn the terror attacks on October 7, 2023. The large-scale loss of civilian lives and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is unacceptable. We affirm the imperative of securing the release of all hostages held by Hamas, and emphasize that the deal to release hostages would bring an immediate and prolonged ceasefire in Gaza. We underscore the urgent need to significantly increase deliveries of life-saving humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza as well as the crucial need to prevent regional escalation. We urge all parties to comply with international law, including international humanitarian law, as applicable. We welcome UNSCR S/RES/2735 (2024), and strongly urge all parties concerned to work immediately and steadily toward the release of all hostages and an immediate ceasefire. We call on all parties to take every feasible step to protect the lives of civilians including aid workers, and facilitate the rapid, safe and unimpeded humanitarian relief to civilians. We also encourage other countries, including those in the Indo-Pacific, to increase their support in order to address the dire humanitarian need on the ground. We underscore that the future recovery and reconstruction of Gaza should be supported by the international community. We remain committed to a sovereign, viable and independent Palestinian state taking into account Israel’s legitimate security concerns as part of a two-state solution that enables both Israelis and Palestinians to live in a just, lasting, and secure peace. Any unilateral actions that undermine the prospect of a two-state solution, including Israeli expansion of settlements and violent extremism on all sides, must end. We underscore the need to prevent the conflict from escalating and spilling over in the region.

    We condemn the ongoing attacks perpetrated by the Houthis and their supporters against international and commercial vessels transiting through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, which are destabilizing the region and impeding navigational rights and freedoms and trade flows, and jeopardize the safety of vessels and people on board including sailors.

    We reaffirm our commitment to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the achievement of its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We underscore the importance of achieving the SDGs in a comprehensive manner without selectively prioritizing a narrow set of such goals, and reaffirm that the UN has a central role in supporting countries in their implementation. With six years left, we remain steadfast in our commitment to the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and accelerating progress toward all the SDGs in a comprehensive manner that is balanced across three dimensions – economic, social and environmental. From global health to sustainable development and climate change, the global community benefits when all stakeholders have the opportunity to contribute to addressing these challenges. We affirm our commitment to contributing to and implementing the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda and to achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. We underscore our commitment to strongly engaging constructively in the discussion on advancing sustainable development, including at the Summit of the Future. The Quad continues to realize a safe and secure world where human rights and human dignity are protected, based on the central premise of the SDGs: “Leave no one behind.”

    We, the Quad Leaders, remain dedicated to working in partnership with Indo-Pacific countries in deciding our future and shaping the region we all want to live in.

    Enduring Partners for the Indo-Pacific

    Over the past four years, Quad Leaders have met together six times, including twice virtually, and Quad Foreign Ministers have met eight times in the last five years. Quad country representatives meet together on a regular basis, at all levels, including among ambassadors across the four countries’ extensive diplomatic networks, to consult one another, exchange ideas to advance shared priorities, and deliver benefits with and for partners across the Indo-Pacific region. We welcome our Commerce and Industry ministers preparing to meet for the first time in the coming months. We also welcome the leaders of our Development Finance Institutions and Agencies deciding to meet to explore future investments by the four countries in the Indo-Pacific. Altogether, our four countries are cooperating at an unprecedented pace and scale.

    Each of our governments has committed to working through our respective budgetary processes to secure robust funding for Quad priorities in the Indo-Pacific region to ensure an enduring impact. We intend to work with our legislatures to deepen interparliamentary exchanges, and encourage other stakeholders to deepen engagement with Quad counterparts.

    We look forward to the next Quad Foreign Ministers’ meeting hosted by the United States in 2025, and the next Quad Leaders’ Summit hosted by India in 2025. The Quad is here to stay.

    *********

    MJPS/ST

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    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Commerce and Industry Minister Shri Piyush Goyal participates in 12th East Asia Summit Economic Ministers Meeting in Lao PDR

    Source: Government of India

    Posted On: 21 SEP 2024 8:39PM by PIB Delhi

    Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce and Industry during the 2nd and last day of his visit to Vientiane, Lao PDR participated in the 12th East Asia Summit Economic Ministers’ Meeting (EAS EMM). The meeting was chaired by H.E. Malaithong Kommasith, Minister of Industry and Commerce of Lao PDR, the ASEAN Chair for 2024. The Economic Ministers or their representatives from all the 10 ASEAN countries and 8 other EAS partners viz. India, USA, Russia, China, Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand were present in the meeting. Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste joined the Meeting as an observer.

    In the 12th EAS EMM, the Economic Ministers discussed regional and global economic developments and challenges. In his intervention, Minister Goyal reiterated India’s commitment to strengthen the East Asia Summit Forum, being its founder member, and acknowledged its role in promoting peace, stability and economic prosperity in the region. Referring to ASEAN Secretariat’s briefing on the regional and global economic forecast for 2025, he informed that while the global economy is expected to grow at 3.2% in 2024-25, India’s growth rate is projected at 7-7.2%, with India on the way to become the 3rd largest economy by 2027.

    On WTO, Minister Goyal commended the successful conclusion of the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference in March 2024 and reiterated India’s commitment to an open, transparent, and inclusive WTO reform process, emphasizing a rules-based system with principles of non-discrimination, inclusivity, and Special and Differential Treatment.  He invited ASEAN countries to come forward for collaboration on issues of global south at WTO and to strengthen multilateralism.

    Minister Goyal commended the research paper presented by Economic and Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia on “Navigating the path to a Net-Zero Economy: Decarbonization and Sustainability Initiatives in EAS Countries” and referred to India’s commitment to a net-zero economy by 2070 and the significant strides made by India in climate action achieving reduction in emission intensity of GDP related target 11 years in advance and share of non-fossil fuels in energy mix 9 years in advance. He appealed to the member countries to promote circularity in lifestyles with responsible consumption as outlined by our Hon’ble Prime Minister Modi call for Mission LIFE – Life Style for Environment at COP 26.

    During the day, Minister Goyal had a number of bilateral meetings and other engagements alongside the 12th EAS EMM. The day started with a bilateral meeting with H.E. Dr. Kan Zaw, Minister of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations, Myanmar wherein both sides discussed potential cooperation areas in trade and the ongoing AITIGA review negotiations.

    Minister Goyal also met H.E. Inkyo Cheong, Minister for Trade, Industry and Energy, Republic of Korea and held discussion on bilateral trade relations, progress in negotiations for upgrading India-Korea CEPA and promoting inclusive investments in India.

    Minister Goyal subsequently participated in a programme organized by the Indian Embassy in Laos, for interaction with Indian diaspora. During this event, he engaged in meaningful conversations with community members, acknowledging their invaluable contributions to enhancing bilateral relations between India and Laos. He emphasized the importance of their efforts in promoting cultural exchange and economic collaboration, and expressed gratitude for their role in serving as a bridge between the two nations.

    Minister Goyal had a meeting with Mr. Tetsuya Watanabe, President of Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA). The discussion revolved on possible collaboration in India specific research studies. India had last year announced a financial contribution of USD 1 Million to ERIA over a period of 10 years. ERIA is also collaborating with Indian Centre for WTO Studies on conducting a joint study on AITIGA.

    In the evening, Minister Goyal held a meeting with H.E. Dr. Kao Kim Hourn, Secretary General of ASEAN. ASEAN Secretariat is coordinating discussions on AITIGA review and both the dignitaries deliberated on ways to enhance India and ASEAN trade relations including by addressing market access asymmetries and upgrading AITIGA.

    Minister Goyal wrapped up his visit to Laos with a meeting with H.E. Malaithong Kommasith, Minister of Industry and Commerce of Lao PDR. He congratulated Minister Kommasith on the successful hosting of the Economic Ministers’ meetings and engaged in discussions about trade collaboration opportunities, as well as the ongoing negotiations for the review of AITIGA.

    ***

    AD/VN

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    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: DFS Secretary Shri M. Nagaraju chairs Conference of Chairpersons of Debt Recovery Appellate Tribunals (DRATs) and Presiding Officers of Debt Recovery of Tribunals (DRTs) at New Delhi today

    Source: Government of India

    DFS Secretary Shri M. Nagaraju chairs Conference of Chairpersons of Debt Recovery Appellate Tribunals (DRATs) and Presiding Officers of Debt Recovery of Tribunals (DRTs) at New Delhi today

    Issues related to DRTs, including reducing pendency, adoption of best practices, optimising recovery, formulation of settlement policy, and adoption of new DRT Regulations 2024 were discussed during the conference

    Posted On: 21 SEP 2024 5:33PM by PIB Delhi

    Shri M. Nagaraju, Secretary, Department of Financial Services (DFS) chaired a Conference of Chairpersons of Debt Recovery Appellate Tribunals (DRATs) and Presiding Officers of Debt Recovery of Tribunals (DRTs) at New Delhi, today.

    The meeting was attended by senior officers from the public and private sectors banks, Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Indian Bank Association (IBA) and senior officers from the Ministry of Finance.

    During the meeting whole gamut of issues were discussed concerning the functioning of DRTs and in order to make recovery procedure more efficient, it was agreed that:

    • Banks to put in place effective monitoring and oversight mechanism for efficient management of pending cases in DRTs
    • Some of the best practices followed in DRTs were also discussed which can be adopted across DRTs for better outcome.
    • Banks to have clearly defined policy for small and high value cases pending in DRTs for optimising the recovery.
    • While formulating settlement policy, banks to take into account the transaction costs in mind while pursuing pending recovery cases.
    • All stakeholders to work collectively to reduce pendency and take effective measures for optimisation of recovery which would help in ploughing back the capital stuck in pending cases to the economy for productive use.
    • DRT Regulations 2024 which have number of improved features over the earlier DRT Regulation 2015 to be adopted by all DRTs with an objective to make the DRT process more effective and less time consuming.

    ****

    NB/KMN

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    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Full devolution to be delivered across the North

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    The government is continuing to deliver devolution for all corners of the country, with a commitment to deliver full devolution across the North.

    • Government will prioritise remaining Northern areas in the next wave of devolution deals
    • Progression for deals covering Lancashire, Greater Lincolnshire, Hull and East Yorkshire and Devon and Torbay announced earlier this week will be prioritised
    • Backing advanced manufacturing in the West Midlands and life sciences in West Yorkshire by releasing this year’s funding for the Mayors’ Investment Zones

    The government is continuing to deliver devolution for all corners of the country, with a commitment to deliver full devolution across the North.

    The next wave of devolution deals will work to ensure the remaining areas in the region not yet benefitting from greater devolved powers are supported to deliver agreements that work for their communities.

    The commitment confirmed today follows the government’s announcement earlier this week that four devolution agreements will progress in Hull and East Yorkshire, Greater Lincolnshire, Lancashire, and Devon and Torbay.

    The government will also release this year’s funding for two Investment Zones, delivering high quality jobs and attracting private sector investment, focusing on advanced manufacturing in the West Midlands and life sciences in West Yorkshire.

    Investment Zones have been established in a number of Combined Authorities in England, combining tax incentives and flexible funding for research and development, skills, business support, local infrastructure and planning.

    Further government action to deliver devolution includes:

    • The English Devolution Bill announced in the King’s Speech;
    • Establishing the Council of the Nations and Regions, with more details to be announced in due course; 
    • Asking existing mayors to develop Local Growth Plans for their areas to help drive regional growth. Greater Manchester, one of the places where devolution has existed for the longest and the powers are deepest, has been one of the UK’s fastest growing areas over the last 20 years, and is forecast to grow by more than the national average in coming years; and
    • The devolution agreements announced this week means that over 60% of the country will be covered by a devolution deal.

    Updates to this page

    Published 22 September 2024

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: More than 30 arrests in crackdown on Common Travel Area abuse

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    A three-day crackdown against people-smuggling gangs saw 31 arrests.

    A Home Office crackdown against people-smuggling gangs and people exploiting the Common Travel Area (CTA) has led to the arrest of 31 people in multiple locations across the UK.  

    As the government steps up its pursuit against the criminal groups abusing our borders on all fronts, Immigration Enforcement teams, alongside UK police forces and international partners, descended on locations in the UK including Belfast, Scotland, Liverpool and Luton as part of a three-day operation.   

    Checks were conducted at major ports, airports, and road networks across the country, targeting illegal migration and disrupting smuggling routes. Ruthless criminal gangs, operating both in the UK and internationally, often exploit vulnerable migrants, charging them thousands of pounds to enter the UK illegally, luring them with false promises of a better life.  

    During the operation, £400,000 of criminal cash and 10 fraudulent identity documents were seized. These documents, which are critical tools used by people-smuggling gangs, enable them to evade immigration controls. Created by criminal networks, counterfeit documents allow migrants to bypass border checks, trapping vulnerable people in further illegal activities. By exploiting these people, the gangs not only profit but also place them at risk of severe legal and personal consequences.  

    The multi-agency operation was led by Immigration Enforcement’s Criminal and Financial Investigations team in Northern Ireland, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), the National Crime Agency (NCA), other UK police forces, and international partners.  

    This operation is part of a national effort to stop irregular migration and human trafficking at key entry points across the UK, as the government works to tackle people-smuggling gangs and bring those exploiting vulnerable people to justice.  

    Minister for Border Security and Asylum, Dame Angela Eagle, said:  

    This government will not stand by as criminal gangs exploit vulnerable people, risking their lives and giving them false hopes of a better life in the UK. Driven by greed, these gangs have no regard for human life or safety, charging outrageous fees, preying on those desperate to escape hardship, and forcing them into illegal and dangerous situations.  

    We are taking the fight to them on all fronts under the leadership of our new Border Security Commander. Dismantling the business models of these gangs does not just apply to the small boats trade – we are also stamping out other routes into the UK to bring them to justice and slash their profits.” 

    Home Office Immigration Enforcement Inspector, Jonathan Evans, said:  

    This operation has been a huge success and sends a clear message that the smuggling gangs who break our laws will face serious consequences.  

    We are taking action day in, day out to ensure we stay a step ahead of these criminal groups, disrupting them at the earliest possible stage. We will continue working relentlessly to ensure no one abuses the Common Travel Area or the UK’s borders.  

    I’m incredibly proud of our teams across the country, as well as our partners from the police, the National Crime Agency, and international counterparts, for their hard work and collaboration in carrying out this important operation.

    Updates to this page

    Published 22 September 2024

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: IOM Chief and COP29 Presidency to Address Climate-Peace-Human Mobility Nexus During UNGA

    Source: International Organization for Migration (IOM)

    New York, 22 September – The COP29 Presidency and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) will co-host a High-Level Roundtable on Climate, Peace, and Human Mobility during the UN General Assembly week on September 22, 2024. With climate change being a major driver of displacement and migration, the event will underscore the urgent need for concrete policy recommendations and practical strategies to address the root causes of climate-induced displacement. 

    The roundtable will focus on the critical intersections of the climate and peace nexus with water scarcity, food insecurity, and land degradation. It aims to catalyze actionable solutions and inform COP29 discussions on key issues related to the climate and peace nexus. 

    “The convergence of climate change and conflict is one of the most pressing challenges of our time, with devastating consequences for some of the most vulnerable people on our planet,” said IOM Director General Amy Pope. “We need to act now to address the root causes of climate-induced displacement and build resilience in affected communities.” 

    The event will also empower a new Centre of Excellence envisaged in the Joint Communique of the COP29 Climate and Peace co-lead initiative to address the gaps in scaling up international cooperation and finance for the most vulnerable, and build synergies between the outcomes of the Summit of the Future and the Peace, Relief and Recovery Day at COP29. 

    “The forthcoming COP29 Peace Relief and Recovery Day in Baku is envisaged to deliver concrete outcomes to scale up support to the countries under multiple stress of climate extremes and conflicts.” said Ambassador Elshad Iskandarov, Senior Adviser to COP29 Presidency, highlighted the importance of international collaboration. “The high-level roundtable is an important milestone on the road to November to provide a crucial platform for governments, UN agencies, and other stakeholders to come together and develop concrete solutions to address the complex challenges represented by the intersection of climate, peace and human mobility. In the face of the climate driven challenges to human security we must work together to ensure a more sustainable, inclusive and peaceful future for all.” 

    The roundtable will feature high-level participants, including representatives from the COP29 Presidency, IOM, the governments of Italy and Egypt, the Green Climate Fund, the Asian Development Bank, the European Investment Bank, the World Bank Group, and the UN Department for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs. 

    The event is expected to produce concrete policy recommendations to inform COP29 discussions and support the launch of the Centre of Excellence on Climate Action for Peace.  

    The Centre will serve as a hub for knowledge exchange, collaboration, and innovation, focusing on solutions to climate-induced displacement and other human security challenges driven by climate extremes, including water scarcity, food insecurity, and land degradation  

     

    Note to Editor:  

     

    The High-Level Roundtable on Climate, Peace, and Human Mobility will take place on September 22, 2024, from 1:15 PM to 2:30 PM in Room 11 at the UN Headquarters in New York.  

     

    About COP29  

    The 29th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 11-22 November 2024. COP29 will focus on accelerating climate action and delivering on the commitments made under the Paris Agreement.  

     

    For more information, please contact : 
     

    COP29 Presidency: 

    gafgaz.adigozalov@cop29.az or visit www.COP29.az 

    IOM:

    Media@iom.int or rsharshr@iom.int 

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Secretary-General’s remarks at the Opening Segment of the Summit of the Future Plenary [bilingual as delivered, scroll down for all-English and all-French]

    Source: United Nations secretary general

    Excellencies, 

    Ladies and gentlemen,

    Welcome to the Summit of the Future. 

    I thank the co-facilitators, the former and current Presidents of the General Assembly, and all Member States, for their strong engagement, creativity, and spirit of compromise; and all my colleagues for their invaluable efforts over the past three years. 

    We are here to bring multilateralism back from the brink.

    I called for this Summit to consider deep reforms to make global institutions more legitimate, fair and effective, based on the values of the UN Charter.  

    I called for this Summit because 21st century challenges require 21st century solutions: frameworks that are networked and inclusive; and that draw on the expertise of all of humanity.  

    I called for this summit because our world is heading off the rails – and we need tough decisions to get back on track.  

    Conflicts are raging and multiplying, from the Middle East to Ukraine and Sudan, with no end in sight.

    Our collective security system is threatened by geopolitical divides, nuclear posturing, and the development of new weapons and theatres of war.  

    Resources that could bring opportunities and hope are invested in death and destruction. 

    Huge inequalities are a brake on sustainable development. Many developing countries are drowning in debt and unable to support their people. 

    We have no effective global response to emerging, complex and even existential threats. 
    The climate crisis is destroying lives, devastating communities and ravaging economies. 

    We all know the solution – a just phase-out of fossil fuels – and yet, emissions are still rising. 
    New technologies, including AI, are being developed in a moral and legal vacuum, without governance or guardrails. 

    In short, our multilateral tools and institutions are unable to respond effectively to today’s political, economic, environmental and technological challenges. 

    And tomorrow’s will be even more difficult and even more dangerous.  

    When the United Nations was established nearly 80 years ago, it had 51 Member States. Today there are 193. 

    The global economy was less than one-twelfth of its current size.

    As a result, our peace and security tools and institutions, and our global financial architecture, reflect a bygone era. 

    The United Nations Security Council is outdated, and its authority is eroding.  

    Unless its composition and working methods are reformed, it will eventually lose all credibility.  

    The international financial architecture was established when many of today’s developing countries were under colonial rule. 

    It does not represent the realities of today’s global economy, and it is no longer able to resolve global economic challenges: debt, climate action, sustainable development. 

    It does not provide the global safety net that developing countries need. 

    Meanwhile, technology, geopolitics and globalization have transformed power relations. 

    Our world is going through a time of turbulence and a period of transition. 

    But we cannot wait for perfect conditions. We must take the first decisive steps towards updating and reforming international cooperation to make it more networked, fair and inclusive – now.  

    And today, thanks to your efforts, we have. 

    Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

    The Pact for the Future, the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration on Future Generations open pathways to new possibilities and opportunities.

    On peace and security, they promise a breakthrough on reforms to make the Security Council more reflective of today’s world, addressing the historic under-representation of Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America. 

    They lay the foundations for a more agile Peacebuilding Commission, and for a fundamental review of peace operations to make them fit for the conditions they face. 

    They represent the first agreed multilateral support for nuclear disarmament in more than a decade. 

    They recognize the changing nature of conflict, and commit to steps to prevent an arms race in outer space and to govern the use of lethal autonomous weapons.  

    They include measures to mount an immediate and coordinated response to complex global shocks. 

    On sustainable development, these agreements represent major progress towards groundbreaking reforms of the international financial architecture. 

    They will help to make its institutions more representative of today’s world, capable of mounting a stronger response to today’s challenges, and able to provide an effective global safety net for developing countries at a time when many of them are suffocating in debt and unable to make progress on the SDGs. 

    The Pact for the Future is about turbocharging the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement, accelerating a just transition away from fossil fuels, and securing a peaceful and livable future for everyone on our planet. 

    It includes a groundbreaking commitment by governments to listen to young people and include them in decision-making, at the national and global levels. 

    And it commits to stronger partnerships with civil society, the private sector, local and regional authorities and more. 

    The Global Digital Compact is based on the principle that technology should benefit everyone.

    It includes the first truly universal agreement on the international governance of Artificial Intelligence.

    It commits governments to establishing an independent international Scientific Panel on AI and initiating a global dialogue on its governance within the United Nations.

    The Global Digital Compact represents the first collective effort to reach agreed interoperability standards – essential for consistent measurement. 

    And it supports networks and partnerships to build capacity on AI in developing countries.  
    The Declaration on Future Generations echoes the call of the United Nations Charter to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, committing governments for the first time to taking the interests of our descendants into account in decisions we take today. 

    Respect for human rights, cultural diversity and gender equality are woven into all three agreements. 

    In the face of a surge in misogyny and a rollback of women’s reproductive rights, governments have explicitly committed to removing the legal, social and economic barriers that prevent women and girls from fulfilling their potential in every sphere. 

    Excellences, 

    Je salue ces trois accords historiques – qui marquent un tournant vers un multilatéralisme plus efficace, plus inclusif et fonctionnant plus en réseaux. 

    Je me suis battu pour les idées portées par ces accords depuis le tout premier jour de mon mandat. 

    Et je serai pleinement engagé dans leur mise en œuvre jusqu’au tout dernier jour. 

    Nous avons ouvert la porte. 

    Il nous incombe désormais – à toutes et à tous – de la franchir. 

    Car il ne s’agit pas seulement de s’entendre – mais aussi d’agir. 

    Aujourd’hui, je vous mets au défi de passer à l’action. 

    De mettre en œuvre le Pacte pour l’avenir – en privilégiant le dialogue et la négociation, en mettant fin aux guerres qui déchirent le monde, et en réformant la composition et les méthodes de travail du Conseil de sécurité. 

    D’accélérer la réforme du système financier international, notamment à l’occasion de la Conférence sur le financement du développement qui se tiendra l’année prochaine.   

    De placer les nouvelles technologies au service de l’intérêt supérieur de l’humanité. 

    Ce qui détermine notre succès – ou échec, ce n’est pas l’adoption d’accords, mais bien nos actions et leur impact sur la vie des populations que nous servons. 

    Excellences, 

    Tout au long de ma vie – que ce soit en tant que militant politique ou aux Nations Unies – j’ai appris que les gens ne sont jamais d’accord sur le passé. 

    Pour rétablir la confiance, nous devons partir du présent et regarder vers l’avenir. 

    Partout dans le monde, les gens aspirent à la paix, à la dignité et à la prospérité. 

    Ils réclament une mobilisation mondiale pour régler la crise climatique, lutter contre les inégalités et faire face aux risques nouveaux et émergents qui menacent l’humanité. 

    Et ils considèrent que l’ONU est indispensable pour résoudre ces défis. 

    Tout cela a été confirmé pendant les deux Journées d’action inspirantes qui viennent de se dérouler.

    Le Sommet de l’avenir trace la voie pour une coopération internationale qui soit à la hauteur de leurs attentes.   

    Alors que nous franchissons ensemble cette première étape cruciale, je tiens à féliciter tous les États membres pour leur contribution. 

    Maintenant, mettons-nous au travail. 

    Et je vous remercie. 

    *****
    [all-English]

    Excellencies, 

    Ladies and gentlemen,

    Welcome to the Summit of the Future. 

    I thank the co-facilitators, the former and current Presidents of the General Assembly, and all Member States, for their strong engagement, creativity, and spirit of compromise; and all my colleagues for their invaluable efforts over the past three years. 

    We are here to bring multilateralism back from the brink.

    I called for this Summit to consider deep reforms to make global institutions more legitimate, fair and effective, based on the values of the UN Charter.  

    I called for this Summit because 21st century challenges require 21st century solutions: frameworks that are networked and inclusive; and that draw on the expertise of all of humanity.  

    I called for this summit because our world is heading off the rails – and we need tough decisions to get back on track.  

    Conflicts are raging and multiplying, from the Middle East to Ukraine and Sudan, with no end in sight.

    Our collective security system is threatened by geopolitical divides, nuclear posturing, and the development of new weapons and theatres of war.  

    Resources that could bring opportunities and hope are invested in death and destruction. 

    Huge inequalities are a brake on sustainable development. Many developing countries are drowning in debt and unable to support their people. 

    And we have no effective global response to emerging, complex and even existential threats. 

    The climate crisis is destroying lives, devastating communities and ravaging economies. 

    We all know the solution – a just phase-out of fossil fuels – and yet, emissions are still rising. 

    New technologies, including AI, are being developed in a moral and legal vacuum, without governance or guardrails. 

    In short, our multilateral tools and institutions are unable to respond effectively to today’s political, economic, environmental and technological challenges. 

    And tomorrow’s will be even more difficult and even more dangerous.  

    When the United Nations was established nearly 80 years ago, it had 51 Member States. Today there are 193. 

    The global economy was less than one-twelfth of its current size.

    As a result, our peace and security tools and institutions, and our global financial architecture, reflect a bygone era. 

    The United Nations Security Council is outdated, and its authority is eroding.  

    Unless its composition and working methods are reformed, it will eventually lose all credibility.  

    The international financial architecture was established when many of today’s developing countries were under colonial rule. 

    It does not represent the realities of today’s global economy, and it is no longer able to resolve global economic challenges: debt, climate action, sustainable development. 

    It does not provide the global safety net that developing countries need. 

    Meanwhile, technology, geopolitics and globalization have transformed power relations. 

    Our world is going through a time of turbulence and a period of transition. 

    But we cannot wait for perfect conditions. We must take the first decisive steps towards updating and reforming international cooperation and make it more networked, fair and inclusive – now.  

    And today, thanks to your efforts, we have. 

    Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, 

    The Pact for the Future, the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration on Future Generations open pathways to new possibilities and opportunities.

    On peace and security, they promise a breakthrough on reforms to make the Security Council more reflective of today’s world, addressing the historic under-representation of Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America. 

    They lay the foundations for a more agile Peacebuilding Commission, and for a fundamental review of peace operations to make them fit for the conditions they face. 

    They represent the first agreed multilateral support for nuclear disarmament in more than a decade. 

    They recognize the changing nature of conflict, and commit to steps to prevent an arms race in outer space and to govern the use of lethal autonomous weapons.  

    They include measures to mount an immediate and coordinated response to complex global shocks. 

    On sustainable development, these agreements represent major progress towards groundbreaking reforms of the international financial architecture.

    They will help to make its institutions more representative of today’s world, capable of mounting a stronger response to today’s challenges, and able to provide an effective global safety net for developing countries at a time when many of them are suffocating in debt and unable to make progress on the SDGs. 

    The Pact for the Future is about turbocharging the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement, accelerating a just transition away from fossil fuels, and securing a peaceful and livable future for everyone on our planet. 

    It includes a groundbreaking commitment by governments to listen to young people and include them in decision-making, at the national and global levels. 

    And it commits to stronger partnerships with civil society, the private sector, local and regional authorities and more. 

    The Global Digital Compact is based on the principle that technology should benefit everyone.

    It includes the first truly universal agreement on the international governance of Artificial Intelligence.

    It commits governments to establishing an independent international Scientific Panel on AI and initiating a global dialogue on its governance within the United Nations.

    The Global Digital Compact represents the first collective effort to reach agreed interoperability standards – essential for consistent measurement. 

    And it supports networks and partnerships to build capacity on AI in developing countries.  

    The Declaration on Future Generations echoes the call of the United Nations Charter to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, committing governments for the first time to taking the interests of our descendants into account in decisions we take today. 

    Respect for human rights, cultural diversity and gender equality are woven into all three agreements. 

    In the face of a surge in misogyny and a rollback of women’s reproductive rights, governments have explicitly committed to removing the legal, social and economic barriers that prevent women and girls from fulfilling their potential in every sphere. 

    Excellencies, 

    I welcome these three landmark agreements – a step-change towards more effective, inclusive, networked multilateralism. 

    I have been fighting for the ideas in them since the first day of my mandate. 

    And I will be totally committed to their implementation until the very last day. 

    We have unlocked the door. 

    Now it is our common responsibility to walk through it. 

    That demands not just agreement, but action. 

    I challenge you to take that action. 

    To implement the Pact for the Future by prioritizing dialogue and negotiation, ending the wars tearing our world apart, and reforming the composition and working methods of the Security Council. 

    To accelerate reforms of the international financial system – including at next year’s Conference on Financing for Development.   

    To put humanity’s best interests front and centre of new technologies. 

    We stand and fall not by adopting agreements, but by our actions and their impact on the lives of the people we serve.  

    Excellencies, 

    Throughout my life – whether as a political activist or at the United Nations – I have learned that people never agree on the past. 

    To rebuild trust, we must start with the present and look to the future. 

    People everywhere are hoping for a future of peace, dignity, and prosperity. 

    They are crying out for global action to solve the climate crisis, tackle inequality, and address new and emerging risks that threaten everyone. 

    And they see the United Nations as essential to solving these challenges. 

    All this was confirmed during the past two inspirational Action Days. 

    The Summit of the Future sets a course for international cooperation that can meet their expectations.   

    I congratulate all Member States for playing their part as we take these first important steps together. 

    Now, let’s get to work. 

    And I thank you. 
    *****
    [all-French]
    Excellences, 

    Mesdames et messieurs,

    Bienvenue au Sommet de l’avenir.

    Je remercie les co-facilitateurs, l’ancien et l’actuel président de l’Assemblée générale, tous les États membres, pour leur engagement fort, leur créativité et leur esprit de compromis, ainsi que tous mes collègues pour leurs efforts inestimables au cours des trois dernières années.

    Nous sommes ici pour préserver le multilatéralisme des affres de l’échec.

    J’ai demandé que le présent Sommet envisage des réformes profondes visant à rendre les institutions mondiales plus légitimes, plus justes et plus efficaces, sur la base des valeurs énoncées dans la Charte des Nations Unies. 

    J’ai convoqué ce sommet parce que les défis du 21e siècle requièrent des solutions du 21e siècle : des cadres en réseau et inclusifs, qui s’appuient sur les compétences de l’humanité tout entière. 

    J’ai convoqué ce sommet parce que notre monde perd le nord et qu’il nous faut prendre des décisions difficiles pour le remettre sur la bonne voie. 

    Les conflits font rage et se multiplient, du Moyen-Orient à l’Ukraine en passant par le Soudan, sans qu’une fin soit en vue.

    Notre système de sécurité collective est menacé par les dissensions géopolitiques, les prises de positions face au nucléaire, la mise au point de nouvelles armes et l’apparition de nouveaux théâtres d’hostilités.
     
    Les ressources qui pourraient se traduire en potentialités et être porteuses d’espoir sont investies dans la mort et la destruction. 

    Des inégalités colossales freinent le développement durable. De nombreux pays en développement, croulant sous la dette, sont incapables de subvenir aux besoins de leur population. 

    Nous n’avons pas, à l’échelle mondiale, de réponse efficace aux menaces émergentes et complexes, voire existentielles. 

    La crise climatique détruit des vies, dévaste des communautés et ravage des économies. 

    Nous connaissons, toutes et tous, la solution – l’élimination progressive des combustibles fossiles – et pourtant, les émissions ne cessent d’augmenter. 

    Les nouvelles technologies, y compris l’intelligence artificielle, se développent dans un vide éthique et juridique, sans gouvernance ni garde-fou. 

    En somme, nos institutions et instruments multilatéraux sont incapables de relever efficacement les défis politiques, économiques, environnementaux et technologiques d’aujourd’hui. 

    Et les défis de demain seront encore plus difficiles et plus dangereux à relever. 

    À sa création, il y a près de 80 ans, l’Organisation des Nations Unies comptait 51 États Membres. Aujourd’hui, elle en compte 193. 

    L’économie mondiale représentait, à l’époque, moins d’un douzième de sa taille actuelle.

    Nos instruments et institutions de paix et de sécurité, tout comme notre architecture financière mondiale, sont donc le reflet d’une époque révolue. 

    Le Conseil de sécurité de l’ONU est dépassé et son autorité s’érode. 

    Sans une réforme de sa composition et de ses méthodes de travail, il finira par perdre toute crédibilité. 

    L’architecture financière mondiale a été créée à une époque où de nombreux pays en développement se trouvaient sous domination coloniale. 

    Elle ne représente pas les réalités de l’économie mondiale d’aujourd’hui et n’est plus en mesure de relever les défis économiques mondiaux que sont la dette, l’action climatique ou le développement durable. 

    Elle ne fournit pas le filet de sécurité mondial dont les pays en développement ont besoin. 

    Pendant ce temps-là, la technologie, la géopolitique et la mondialisation ont transformé les rapports de force. 

    Notre monde traverse une période de turbulences et de transition. 

    Pour autant, nous ne pouvons attendre l’avènement de conditions parfaites. Nous devons prendre – dès à présent – les premières mesures décisives pour actualiser et réformer la coopération internationale afin de la rendre plus interconnectée, plus équitable et plus inclusive. 

    Et aujourd’hui, grâce à vos efforts, c’est chose faite. 

    Excellences, mesdames et messieurs, 

    Le Pacte pour l’avenir, le Pacte numérique mondial et la Déclaration sur les générations futures sont porteurs de chances et de possibilités nouvelles.

    En ce qui concerne la paix et la sécurité, ces instruments promettent une percée dans les réformes visant à rendre le Conseil de sécurité plus représentatif du monde d’aujourd’hui, en remédiant au problème de la sous-représentation dont ont longtemps souffert l’Afrique, l’Asie-Pacifique et l’Amérique latine. 

    Ils jettent les bases d’une Commission de consolidation de la paix plus agile et d’une révision fondamentale des opérations de paix visant à les adapter aux conditions dans lesquelles elles se déroulent.
     
    Ils représentent le premier soutien multilatéral convenu en faveur du désarmement nucléaire depuis plus d’une décennie.

    Ils prennent en compte la nature évolutive des conflits et prévoient des mesures visant à empêcher la militarisation des nouvelles technologies et des nouveaux domaines, notamment l’espace extra-atmosphérique.

    Ils prévoient des mesures visant à mettre en place une riposte immédiate et coordonnée face à des chocs mondiaux complexes. 

    En ce qui concerne le développement durable, ces accords représentent un progrès majeur vers une grande réforme de l’architecture financière internationale.

    Ils contribueront à rendre ses institutions plus représentatives du monde d’aujourd’hui, capables d’apporter une réponse plus résolue aux défis actuels, et aptes à fournir un filet de sécurité mondial efficace pour les pays en développement – alors que nombre de ces pays, croulant sous la dette, ne peuvent progresser dans la réalisation des Objectifs de développement durable. 

    Le Pacte pour l’avenir vise à revitaliser les Objectifs de développement durable et l’Accord de Paris, à accélérer une transition juste vers un monde affranchi des combustibles fossiles et à garantir un avenir pacifique et vivable à tous les habitants de notre planète. 

    Il comprend un engagement inédit des gouvernements à écouter les jeunes et à les faire participer à la prise de décision, aux niveaux national et mondial.

    Il s’engage également à renforcer les partenariats avec la société civile, le secteur privé, les autorités locales et régionales, et plus encore.

    Le Pacte numérique mondial repose sur le principe selon lequel la technologie doit profiter à toutes et tous.

    Il inclut le premier accord véritablement universel sur la gouvernance internationale de l’intelligence artificielle.

    Il engage les gouvernements à créer un groupe scientifique international indépendant sur l’intelligence artificielle et à entamer un dialogue mondial sur la gouvernance de l’intelligence artificielle, au sein de l’ONU.

    Le Pacte numérique mondial représente le premier effort entrepris à l’échelle collective pour mettre au point des normes d’interopérabilité convenues – essentielles pour la cohérence des mesures et la normalisation. 

    Il encourage, en outre, les réseaux et les partenariats visant à renforcer les capacités en matière d’intelligence artificielle dans les pays en développement. 

    La Déclaration sur les générations futures fait écho à l’appel lancé dans la Charte des Nations Unies, à savoir, préserver les générations futures du fléau de la guerre, engageant pour la première fois les gouvernements à prendre en compte les intérêts de nos descendants dans les décisions prises aujourd’hui. 

    Le respect des droits humains, la diversité culturelle et l’égalité des genres sous-tendent le contenu des trois accords. 

    Face à la montée de la misogynie et au recul des droits des femmes en matière de procréation, les gouvernements se sont expressément engagés à lever les obstacles sociaux, économiques et culturels qui empêchent les femmes et les filles de s’épanouir dans tous les domaines. 

    Excellences, 

    Je salue ces trois accords historiques – qui marquent un tournant vers un multilatéralisme plus efficace, plus inclusif et fonctionnant plus en réseaux. 

    Je me suis battu pour les idées portées par ces accords depuis le tout premier jour de mon mandat. 

    Et je serai pleinement engagé dans leur mise en œuvre jusqu’au tout dernier jour. 

    Nous avons ouvert la porte. 

    Il nous incombe désormais – à toutes et à tous – de la franchir. 

    Car il ne s’agit pas seulement de s’entendre – mais aussi d’agir. 

    Aujourd’hui, je vous mets au défi de passer à l’action. 

    De mettre en œuvre le Pacte pour l’avenir – en privilégiant le dialogue et la négociation, en mettant fin aux guerres qui déchirent le monde, et en réformant la composition et les méthodes de travail du Conseil de sécurité. 

    D’accélérer la réforme du système financier international, notamment à l’occasion de la Conférence sur le financement du développement qui se tiendra l’année prochaine. 

    De placer les nouvelles technologies au service de l’intérêt supérieur de l’humanité. 

    Ce qui détermine notre succès – ou échec, ce n’est pas l’adoption d’accords, mais bien nos actions et leur impact sur la vie des populations que nous servons. 

    Excellences, 

    Tout au long de ma vie – que ce soit en tant que militant politique ou aux Nations Unies – j’ai appris que les gens ne sont jamais d’accord sur le passé. 

    Pour rétablir la confiance, nous devons partir du présent et regarder vers l’avenir. 

    Partout dans le monde, les gens aspirent à la paix, à la dignité et à la prospérité. 

    Ils réclament une mobilisation mondiale pour régler la crise climatique, lutter contre les inégalités et faire face aux risques nouveaux et émergents qui menacent l’humanité. 

    Et ils considèrent que l’ONU est indispensable pour résoudre ces défis. 

    Le Sommet de l’avenir trace la voie pour une coopération internationale qui soit à la hauteur de leurs attentes. 

    Alors que nous franchissons ensemble cette première étape cruciale, je tiens à féliciter tous les États membres pour leur contribution. 

    Maintenant, mettons-nous au travail. 

    Et je vous remercie. 

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Secretary-General’s remarks at the Opening Segment of the Summit of the Future Plenary [bilingual as delivered, scroll down for all-English and all-French]

    Source: United Nations – English

    xcellencies, 

    Ladies and gentlemen,

    Welcome to the Summit of the Future. 

    I thank the co-facilitators, the former and current Presidents of the General Assembly, and all Member States, for their strong engagement, creativity, and spirit of compromise; and all my colleagues for their invaluable efforts over the past three years. 

    We are here to bring multilateralism back from the brink.

    I called for this Summit to consider deep reforms to make global institutions more legitimate, fair and effective, based on the values of the UN Charter.  

    I called for this Summit because 21st century challenges require 21st century solutions: frameworks that are networked and inclusive; and that draw on the expertise of all of humanity.  

    I called for this summit because our world is heading off the rails – and we need tough decisions to get back on track.  

    Conflicts are raging and multiplying, from the Middle East to Ukraine and Sudan, with no end in sight.

    Our collective security system is threatened by geopolitical divides, nuclear posturing, and the development of new weapons and theatres of war.  

    Resources that could bring opportunities and hope are invested in death and destruction. 

    Huge inequalities are a brake on sustainable development. Many developing countries are drowning in debt and unable to support their people. 

    We have no effective global response to emerging, complex and even existential threats. 
    The climate crisis is destroying lives, devastating communities and ravaging economies. 

    We all know the solution – a just phase-out of fossil fuels – and yet, emissions are still rising. 
    New technologies, including AI, are being developed in a moral and legal vacuum, without governance or guardrails. 

    In short, our multilateral tools and institutions are unable to respond effectively to today’s political, economic, environmental and technological challenges. 

    And tomorrow’s will be even more difficult and even more dangerous.  

    When the United Nations was established nearly 80 years ago, it had 51 Member States. Today there are 193. 

    The global economy was less than one-twelfth of its current size.

    As a result, our peace and security tools and institutions, and our global financial architecture, reflect a bygone era. 

    The United Nations Security Council is outdated, and its authority is eroding.  

    Unless its composition and working methods are reformed, it will eventually lose all credibility.  

    The international financial architecture was established when many of today’s developing countries were under colonial rule. 

    It does not represent the realities of today’s global economy, and it is no longer able to resolve global economic challenges: debt, climate action, sustainable development. 

    It does not provide the global safety net that developing countries need. 

    Meanwhile, technology, geopolitics and globalization have transformed power relations. 

    Our world is going through a time of turbulence and a period of transition. 

    But we cannot wait for perfect conditions. We must take the first decisive steps towards updating and reforming international cooperation to make it more networked, fair and inclusive – now.  

    And today, thanks to your efforts, we have. 

    Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

    The Pact for the Future, the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration on Future Generations open pathways to new possibilities and opportunities.

    On peace and security, they promise a breakthrough on reforms to make the Security Council more reflective of today’s world, addressing the historic under-representation of Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America. 

    They lay the foundations for a more agile Peacebuilding Commission, and for a fundamental review of peace operations to make them fit for the conditions they face. 

    They represent the first agreed multilateral support for nuclear disarmament in more than a decade. 

    They recognize the changing nature of conflict, and commit to steps to prevent an arms race in outer space and to govern the use of lethal autonomous weapons.  

    They include measures to mount an immediate and coordinated response to complex global shocks. 

    On sustainable development, these agreements represent major progress towards groundbreaking reforms of the international financial architecture. 

    They will help to make its institutions more representative of today’s world, capable of mounting a stronger response to today’s challenges, and able to provide an effective global safety net for developing countries at a time when many of them are suffocating in debt and unable to make progress on the SDGs. 

    The Pact for the Future is about turbocharging the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement, accelerating a just transition away from fossil fuels, and securing a peaceful and livable future for everyone on our planet. 

    It includes a groundbreaking commitment by governments to listen to young people and include them in decision-making, at the national and global levels. 

    And it commits to stronger partnerships with civil society, the private sector, local and regional authorities and more. 

    The Global Digital Compact is based on the principle that technology should benefit everyone.

    It includes the first truly universal agreement on the international governance of Artificial Intelligence.

    It commits governments to establishing an independent international Scientific Panel on AI and initiating a global dialogue on its governance within the United Nations.

    The Global Digital Compact represents the first collective effort to reach agreed interoperability standards – essential for consistent measurement. 

    And it supports networks and partnerships to build capacity on AI in developing countries.  
    The Declaration on Future Generations echoes the call of the United Nations Charter to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, committing governments for the first time to taking the interests of our descendants into account in decisions we take today. 

    Respect for human rights, cultural diversity and gender equality are woven into all three agreements. 

    In the face of a surge in misogyny and a rollback of women’s reproductive rights, governments have explicitly committed to removing the legal, social and economic barriers that prevent women and girls from fulfilling their potential in every sphere. 

    Excellences, 

    Je salue ces trois accords historiques – qui marquent un tournant vers un multilatéralisme plus efficace, plus inclusif et fonctionnant plus en réseaux. 

    Je me suis battu pour les idées portées par ces accords depuis le tout premier jour de mon mandat. 

    Et je serai pleinement engagé dans leur mise en œuvre jusqu’au tout dernier jour. 

    Nous avons ouvert la porte. 

    Il nous incombe désormais – à toutes et à tous – de la franchir. 

    Car il ne s’agit pas seulement de s’entendre – mais aussi d’agir. 

    Aujourd’hui, je vous mets au défi de passer à l’action. 

    De mettre en œuvre le Pacte pour l’avenir – en privilégiant le dialogue et la négociation, en mettant fin aux guerres qui déchirent le monde, et en réformant la composition et les méthodes de travail du Conseil de sécurité. 

    D’accélérer la réforme du système financier international, notamment à l’occasion de la Conférence sur le financement du développement qui se tiendra l’année prochaine.   

    De placer les nouvelles technologies au service de l’intérêt supérieur de l’humanité. 

    Ce qui détermine notre succès – ou échec, ce n’est pas l’adoption d’accords, mais bien nos actions et leur impact sur la vie des populations que nous servons. 

    Excellences, 

    Tout au long de ma vie – que ce soit en tant que militant politique ou aux Nations Unies – j’ai appris que les gens ne sont jamais d’accord sur le passé. 

    Pour rétablir la confiance, nous devons partir du présent et regarder vers l’avenir. 

    Partout dans le monde, les gens aspirent à la paix, à la dignité et à la prospérité. 

    Ils réclament une mobilisation mondiale pour régler la crise climatique, lutter contre les inégalités et faire face aux risques nouveaux et émergents qui menacent l’humanité. 

    Et ils considèrent que l’ONU est indispensable pour résoudre ces défis. 

    Tout cela a été confirmé pendant les deux Journées d’action inspirantes qui viennent de se dérouler.

    Le Sommet de l’avenir trace la voie pour une coopération internationale qui soit à la hauteur de leurs attentes.   

    Alors que nous franchissons ensemble cette première étape cruciale, je tiens à féliciter tous les États membres pour leur contribution. 

    Maintenant, mettons-nous au travail. 

    Et je vous remercie. 

    *****
    [all-English]

    Excellencies, 

    Ladies and gentlemen,

    Welcome to the Summit of the Future. 

    I thank the co-facilitators, the former and current Presidents of the General Assembly, and all Member States, for their strong engagement, creativity, and spirit of compromise; and all my colleagues for their invaluable efforts over the past three years. 

    We are here to bring multilateralism back from the brink.

    I called for this Summit to consider deep reforms to make global institutions more legitimate, fair and effective, based on the values of the UN Charter.  

    I called for this Summit because 21st century challenges require 21st century solutions: frameworks that are networked and inclusive; and that draw on the expertise of all of humanity.  

    I called for this summit because our world is heading off the rails – and we need tough decisions to get back on track.  

    Conflicts are raging and multiplying, from the Middle East to Ukraine and Sudan, with no end in sight.

    Our collective security system is threatened by geopolitical divides, nuclear posturing, and the development of new weapons and theatres of war.  

    Resources that could bring opportunities and hope are invested in death and destruction. 

    Huge inequalities are a brake on sustainable development. Many developing countries are drowning in debt and unable to support their people. 

    And we have no effective global response to emerging, complex and even existential threats. 

    The climate crisis is destroying lives, devastating communities and ravaging economies. 

    We all know the solution – a just phase-out of fossil fuels – and yet, emissions are still rising. 

    New technologies, including AI, are being developed in a moral and legal vacuum, without governance or guardrails. 

    In short, our multilateral tools and institutions are unable to respond effectively to today’s political, economic, environmental and technological challenges. 

    And tomorrow’s will be even more difficult and even more dangerous.  

    When the United Nations was established nearly 80 years ago, it had 51 Member States. Today there are 193. 

    The global economy was less than one-twelfth of its current size.

    As a result, our peace and security tools and institutions, and our global financial architecture, reflect a bygone era. 

    The United Nations Security Council is outdated, and its authority is eroding.  

    Unless its composition and working methods are reformed, it will eventually lose all credibility.  

    The international financial architecture was established when many of today’s developing countries were under colonial rule. 

    It does not represent the realities of today’s global economy, and it is no longer able to resolve global economic challenges: debt, climate action, sustainable development. 

    It does not provide the global safety net that developing countries need. 

    Meanwhile, technology, geopolitics and globalization have transformed power relations. 

    Our world is going through a time of turbulence and a period of transition. 

    But we cannot wait for perfect conditions. We must take the first decisive steps towards updating and reforming international cooperation and make it more networked, fair and inclusive – now.  

    And today, thanks to your efforts, we have. 

    Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, 

    The Pact for the Future, the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration on Future Generations open pathways to new possibilities and opportunities.

    On peace and security, they promise a breakthrough on reforms to make the Security Council more reflective of today’s world, addressing the historic under-representation of Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America. 

    They lay the foundations for a more agile Peacebuilding Commission, and for a fundamental review of peace operations to make them fit for the conditions they face. 

    They represent the first agreed multilateral support for nuclear disarmament in more than a decade. 

    They recognize the changing nature of conflict, and commit to steps to prevent an arms race in outer space and to govern the use of lethal autonomous weapons.  

    They include measures to mount an immediate and coordinated response to complex global shocks. 

    On sustainable development, these agreements represent major progress towards groundbreaking reforms of the international financial architecture.

    They will help to make its institutions more representative of today’s world, capable of mounting a stronger response to today’s challenges, and able to provide an effective global safety net for developing countries at a time when many of them are suffocating in debt and unable to make progress on the SDGs. 

    The Pact for the Future is about turbocharging the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement, accelerating a just transition away from fossil fuels, and securing a peaceful and livable future for everyone on our planet. 

    It includes a groundbreaking commitment by governments to listen to young people and include them in decision-making, at the national and global levels. 

    And it commits to stronger partnerships with civil society, the private sector, local and regional authorities and more. 

    The Global Digital Compact is based on the principle that technology should benefit everyone.

    It includes the first truly universal agreement on the international governance of Artificial Intelligence.

    It commits governments to establishing an independent international Scientific Panel on AI and initiating a global dialogue on its governance within the United Nations.

    The Global Digital Compact represents the first collective effort to reach agreed interoperability standards – essential for consistent measurement. 

    And it supports networks and partnerships to build capacity on AI in developing countries.  

    The Declaration on Future Generations echoes the call of the United Nations Charter to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, committing governments for the first time to taking the interests of our descendants into account in decisions we take today. 

    Respect for human rights, cultural diversity and gender equality are woven into all three agreements. 

    In the face of a surge in misogyny and a rollback of women’s reproductive rights, governments have explicitly committed to removing the legal, social and economic barriers that prevent women and girls from fulfilling their potential in every sphere. 

    Excellencies, 

    I welcome these three landmark agreements – a step-change towards more effective, inclusive, networked multilateralism. 

    I have been fighting for the ideas in them since the first day of my mandate. 

    And I will be totally committed to their implementation until the very last day. 

    We have unlocked the door. 

    Now it is our common responsibility to walk through it. 

    That demands not just agreement, but action. 

    I challenge you to take that action. 

    To implement the Pact for the Future by prioritizing dialogue and negotiation, ending the wars tearing our world apart, and reforming the composition and working methods of the Security Council. 

    To accelerate reforms of the international financial system – including at next year’s Conference on Financing for Development.   

    To put humanity’s best interests front and centre of new technologies. 

    We stand and fall not by adopting agreements, but by our actions and their impact on the lives of the people we serve.  

    Excellencies, 

    Throughout my life – whether as a political activist or at the United Nations – I have learned that people never agree on the past. 

    To rebuild trust, we must start with the present and look to the future. 

    People everywhere are hoping for a future of peace, dignity, and prosperity. 

    They are crying out for global action to solve the climate crisis, tackle inequality, and address new and emerging risks that threaten everyone. 

    And they see the United Nations as essential to solving these challenges. 

    All this was confirmed during the past two inspirational Action Days. 

    The Summit of the Future sets a course for international cooperation that can meet their expectations.   

    I congratulate all Member States for playing their part as we take these first important steps together. 

    Now, let’s get to work. 

    And I thank you. 
    *****
    [all-French]
    Excellences, 

    Mesdames et messieurs,

    Bienvenue au Sommet de l’avenir.

    Je remercie les co-facilitateurs, l’ancien et l’actuel président de l’Assemblée générale, tous les États membres, pour leur engagement fort, leur créativité et leur esprit de compromis, ainsi que tous mes collègues pour leurs efforts inestimables au cours des trois dernières années.

    Nous sommes ici pour préserver le multilatéralisme des affres de l’échec.

    J’ai demandé que le présent Sommet envisage des réformes profondes visant à rendre les institutions mondiales plus légitimes, plus justes et plus efficaces, sur la base des valeurs énoncées dans la Charte des Nations Unies. 

    J’ai convoqué ce sommet parce que les défis du 21e siècle requièrent des solutions du 21e siècle : des cadres en réseau et inclusifs, qui s’appuient sur les compétences de l’humanité tout entière. 

    J’ai convoqué ce sommet parce que notre monde perd le nord et qu’il nous faut prendre des décisions difficiles pour le remettre sur la bonne voie. 

    Les conflits font rage et se multiplient, du Moyen-Orient à l’Ukraine en passant par le Soudan, sans qu’une fin soit en vue.

    Notre système de sécurité collective est menacé par les dissensions géopolitiques, les prises de positions face au nucléaire, la mise au point de nouvelles armes et l’apparition de nouveaux théâtres d’hostilités.
     
    Les ressources qui pourraient se traduire en potentialités et être porteuses d’espoir sont investies dans la mort et la destruction. 

    Des inégalités colossales freinent le développement durable. De nombreux pays en développement, croulant sous la dette, sont incapables de subvenir aux besoins de leur population. 

    Nous n’avons pas, à l’échelle mondiale, de réponse efficace aux menaces émergentes et complexes, voire existentielles. 

    La crise climatique détruit des vies, dévaste des communautés et ravage des économies. 

    Nous connaissons, toutes et tous, la solution – l’élimination progressive des combustibles fossiles – et pourtant, les émissions ne cessent d’augmenter. 

    Les nouvelles technologies, y compris l’intelligence artificielle, se développent dans un vide éthique et juridique, sans gouvernance ni garde-fou. 

    En somme, nos institutions et instruments multilatéraux sont incapables de relever efficacement les défis politiques, économiques, environnementaux et technologiques d’aujourd’hui. 

    Et les défis de demain seront encore plus difficiles et plus dangereux à relever. 

    À sa création, il y a près de 80 ans, l’Organisation des Nations Unies comptait 51 États Membres. Aujourd’hui, elle en compte 193. 

    L’économie mondiale représentait, à l’époque, moins d’un douzième de sa taille actuelle.

    Nos instruments et institutions de paix et de sécurité, tout comme notre architecture financière mondiale, sont donc le reflet d’une époque révolue. 

    Le Conseil de sécurité de l’ONU est dépassé et son autorité s’érode. 

    Sans une réforme de sa composition et de ses méthodes de travail, il finira par perdre toute crédibilité. 

    L’architecture financière mondiale a été créée à une époque où de nombreux pays en développement se trouvaient sous domination coloniale. 

    Elle ne représente pas les réalités de l’économie mondiale d’aujourd’hui et n’est plus en mesure de relever les défis économiques mondiaux que sont la dette, l’action climatique ou le développement durable. 

    Elle ne fournit pas le filet de sécurité mondial dont les pays en développement ont besoin. 

    Pendant ce temps-là, la technologie, la géopolitique et la mondialisation ont transformé les rapports de force. 

    Notre monde traverse une période de turbulences et de transition. 

    Pour autant, nous ne pouvons attendre l’avènement de conditions parfaites. Nous devons prendre – dès à présent – les premières mesures décisives pour actualiser et réformer la coopération internationale afin de la rendre plus interconnectée, plus équitable et plus inclusive. 

    Et aujourd’hui, grâce à vos efforts, c’est chose faite. 

    Excellences, mesdames et messieurs, 

    Le Pacte pour l’avenir, le Pacte numérique mondial et la Déclaration sur les générations futures sont porteurs de chances et de possibilités nouvelles.

    En ce qui concerne la paix et la sécurité, ces instruments promettent une percée dans les réformes visant à rendre le Conseil de sécurité plus représentatif du monde d’aujourd’hui, en remédiant au problème de la sous-représentation dont ont longtemps souffert l’Afrique, l’Asie-Pacifique et l’Amérique latine. 

    Ils jettent les bases d’une Commission de consolidation de la paix plus agile et d’une révision fondamentale des opérations de paix visant à les adapter aux conditions dans lesquelles elles se déroulent.
     
    Ils représentent le premier soutien multilatéral convenu en faveur du désarmement nucléaire depuis plus d’une décennie.

    Ils prennent en compte la nature évolutive des conflits et prévoient des mesures visant à empêcher la militarisation des nouvelles technologies et des nouveaux domaines, notamment l’espace extra-atmosphérique.

    Ils prévoient des mesures visant à mettre en place une riposte immédiate et coordonnée face à des chocs mondiaux complexes. 

    En ce qui concerne le développement durable, ces accords représentent un progrès majeur vers une grande réforme de l’architecture financière internationale.

    Ils contribueront à rendre ses institutions plus représentatives du monde d’aujourd’hui, capables d’apporter une réponse plus résolue aux défis actuels, et aptes à fournir un filet de sécurité mondial efficace pour les pays en développement – alors que nombre de ces pays, croulant sous la dette, ne peuvent progresser dans la réalisation des Objectifs de développement durable. 

    Le Pacte pour l’avenir vise à revitaliser les Objectifs de développement durable et l’Accord de Paris, à accélérer une transition juste vers un monde affranchi des combustibles fossiles et à garantir un avenir pacifique et vivable à tous les habitants de notre planète. 

    Il comprend un engagement inédit des gouvernements à écouter les jeunes et à les faire participer à la prise de décision, aux niveaux national et mondial.

    Il s’engage également à renforcer les partenariats avec la société civile, le secteur privé, les autorités locales et régionales, et plus encore.

    Le Pacte numérique mondial repose sur le principe selon lequel la technologie doit profiter à toutes et tous.

    Il inclut le premier accord véritablement universel sur la gouvernance internationale de l’intelligence artificielle.

    Il engage les gouvernements à créer un groupe scientifique international indépendant sur l’intelligence artificielle et à entamer un dialogue mondial sur la gouvernance de l’intelligence artificielle, au sein de l’ONU.

    Le Pacte numérique mondial représente le premier effort entrepris à l’échelle collective pour mettre au point des normes d’interopérabilité convenues – essentielles pour la cohérence des mesures et la normalisation. 

    Il encourage, en outre, les réseaux et les partenariats visant à renforcer les capacités en matière d’intelligence artificielle dans les pays en développement. 

    La Déclaration sur les générations futures fait écho à l’appel lancé dans la Charte des Nations Unies, à savoir, préserver les générations futures du fléau de la guerre, engageant pour la première fois les gouvernements à prendre en compte les intérêts de nos descendants dans les décisions prises aujourd’hui. 

    Le respect des droits humains, la diversité culturelle et l’égalité des genres sous-tendent le contenu des trois accords. 

    Face à la montée de la misogynie et au recul des droits des femmes en matière de procréation, les gouvernements se sont expressément engagés à lever les obstacles sociaux, économiques et culturels qui empêchent les femmes et les filles de s’épanouir dans tous les domaines. 

    Excellences, 

    Je salue ces trois accords historiques – qui marquent un tournant vers un multilatéralisme plus efficace, plus inclusif et fonctionnant plus en réseaux. 

    Je me suis battu pour les idées portées par ces accords depuis le tout premier jour de mon mandat. 

    Et je serai pleinement engagé dans leur mise en œuvre jusqu’au tout dernier jour. 

    Nous avons ouvert la porte. 

    Il nous incombe désormais – à toutes et à tous – de la franchir. 

    Car il ne s’agit pas seulement de s’entendre – mais aussi d’agir. 

    Aujourd’hui, je vous mets au défi de passer à l’action. 

    De mettre en œuvre le Pacte pour l’avenir – en privilégiant le dialogue et la négociation, en mettant fin aux guerres qui déchirent le monde, et en réformant la composition et les méthodes de travail du Conseil de sécurité. 

    D’accélérer la réforme du système financier international, notamment à l’occasion de la Conférence sur le financement du développement qui se tiendra l’année prochaine. 

    De placer les nouvelles technologies au service de l’intérêt supérieur de l’humanité. 

    Ce qui détermine notre succès – ou échec, ce n’est pas l’adoption d’accords, mais bien nos actions et leur impact sur la vie des populations que nous servons. 

    Excellences, 

    Tout au long de ma vie – que ce soit en tant que militant politique ou aux Nations Unies – j’ai appris que les gens ne sont jamais d’accord sur le passé. 

    Pour rétablir la confiance, nous devons partir du présent et regarder vers l’avenir. 

    Partout dans le monde, les gens aspirent à la paix, à la dignité et à la prospérité. 

    Ils réclament une mobilisation mondiale pour régler la crise climatique, lutter contre les inégalités et faire face aux risques nouveaux et émergents qui menacent l’humanité. 

    Et ils considèrent que l’ONU est indispensable pour résoudre ces défis. 

    Le Sommet de l’avenir trace la voie pour une coopération internationale qui soit à la hauteur de leurs attentes. 

    Alors que nous franchissons ensemble cette première étape cruciale, je tiens à féliciter tous les États membres pour leur contribution. 

    Maintenant, mettons-nous au travail. 

    Et je vous remercie. 

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: SIU welcomes extradition of Michael Lomas

    Source: South Africa News Agency

    Sunday, September 22, 2024

    The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has welcomed the extradition of entrepreneur Michael Lomas concerning Eskom’s R745 million Kusile power plant allegations of fraud, unauthorised rewards, corruption and money laundering. 

    Lomas was arrested in April 2021. He is one of five accused of the alleged crimes. 

    READ | Former PRASA engineering head’s sentence a blow against corruption

    His co-accused are former Eskom Group Executive for Group Capital Division, Abram Masango; former Eskom Senior Manager for Group Capital Division, France Hlakudi; the owner of Tubular Construction Project Antonio José Trindade, and the owner of Babinatlou Business Services Hudson Kgomoeswana. 

    The arrests follow an intensive investigation by the SIU at Eskom, which uncovered evidence of criminal actions involving five accused individuals. This evidence, gathered under the SIU Act, was referred to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the Directorate for Priority Crimes Investigation (Hawks) for further action. 

    “The investigation, initiated in 2018 under Proclamation R11, focuses on Eskom’s procurement and contracting processes and related payments. 

    “The SIU applauds the diligent work of the NPA’s Investigating Directorate, Hawks and international partners, whose collaboration has led to this critical milestone.

    “The SIU will continue to support the prosecutorial process and ensure that all individuals implicated in corruption are brought to justice in accordance with the law.

    “This extradition is part of implementing the National Anti-Corruption Strategy, which sees law enforcement agencies coming together to eradicate corruption in South Africa and ensure the continued cleaning up of State-owned Entities, like Eskom, from corruption,” said the SIU. – SAnews.gov.za

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Translation: Announcement of the appointment of the Government.

    MIL OSI Translation. Government of the Republic of France statements from French to English –

    The composition of the Government resulting from the decree signed today on the proposal of the Prime Minister, responsible for Ecological and Energy Planning, is as follows:

    Ministers:

    Mr. Didier MIGAUD, Keeper of the Seals, Minister of Justice;

    Ms. Catherine VAUTRIN, Minister for Partnership with the Territories and Decentralization;

    Mr. Bruno RETAILLEAU, Minister of the Interior;

    Ms. Anne GENETET, Minister of National Education;

    Mr. Jean-Noël BARROT, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs;

    Ms. Rachida DATI, Minister of Culture;

    Mr. Sébastien LECORNU, Minister of the Armed Forces and Veterans;

    Ms. Agnès PANNIER-RUNACHER, Minister of Ecological Transition, Energy, Climate and Risk Prevention;

    Mr. Antoine ARMAND, Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry;

    Ms. Geneviève DARRIEUSSECQ, Minister of Health and Access to Healthcare;

    Mr. Paul CHRISTOPHE, Minister of Solidarity, Autonomy and Equality between Women and Men;

    Ms. Valérie LÉTARD, Minister of Housing and Urban Renewal;

    Ms. Annie GENEVARD, Minister of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry;

    Ms. Astrid PANOSYAN-BOUVET, Minister of Labor and Employment;

    Mr. Gil AVÉROUS, Minister of Sports, Youth and Community Life;

    Mr. Patrick HETZEL, Minister of Higher Education and Research;

    Mr. Guillaume KASBARIAN, Minister of Civil Service, Simplification and Transformation of Public Action;

    Mr. François-Noël BUFFET, Minister to the Prime Minister, responsible for Overseas Territories;

    Mr. Laurent SAINT-MARTIN, Minister to the Prime Minister, responsible for the Budget and Public Accounts.

    Ministers Delegate:

    To the Prime Minister and the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs:

    Mr. Benjamin HADDAD, responsible for Europe;

    To the Prime Minister:

    Ms Nathalie DELATTRE, responsible for Relations with Parliament;

    Ms Maud BREGEON, Government spokesperson;

    Ms. Marie-Claire CARRÈRE-GÉE, responsible for Government Coordination;

    To the Minister for Partnership with the Territories and Decentralization:

    Mrs. Françoise GATEL, responsible for Rural Affairs, Trade and Crafts;

    Mr. François DUROVRAY, responsible for Transport;

    Mr. Fabrice LOHER, responsible for the Sea and Fisheries;

    To the Minister of the Interior:

    Mr. Nicolas DARAGON, responsible for daily security;

    To the Minister of National Education:

    Mr. Alexandre PORTIER, responsible for Academic Success and Professional Education;

    To the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs:

    Ms Sophie PRIMAS, responsible for Foreign Trade and French Nationals Abroad;

    To the Minister of Ecological Transition, Energy, Climate and Risk Prevention:

    Ms. Olga GIVERNET, responsible for Energy;

    To the Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry:

    Mr. Marc FERRACCI, responsible for Industry;

    Ms Marie-Agnès POUSSIER-WINSBACK, responsible for the Social and Solidarity Economy, Profit-Sharing and Participation;

    Ms. Marina FERRARI, responsible for the Tourism Economy;

    To the Minister of Solidarity, Autonomy and Equality between Women and Men:

    Ms. Agnès CANAYER, responsible for Family and Early Childhood.

    Secretaries of State:

    To the Minister of the Interior:

    Mr. Othman NASROU, responsible for Citizenship and the Fight against Discrimination;

    To the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs:

    Mr. Thani MOHAMED SOILIHI, responsible for Francophonie and International Partnerships;

    To the Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry:

    Ms. Laurence GARNIER, responsible for Consumption;

    To the Minister of Solidarity, Autonomy and Equality between Women and Men:

    Ms. Salima SAA, responsible for Equality between women and men;

    To the Minister of Higher Education and Research:

    Ms. Clara CHAPPAZ, responsible for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Technology.

    The President of the Republic will bring together all members of the Government for a Council of Ministers which will be held on Monday, September 23 at 3:00 p.m.

    EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is a translation. Apologies should the grammar and/or sentence structure not be perfect.

    MIL Translation OSI

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI: Rubio Joins Face the Nation

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Florida Marco Rubio
    U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) joined Face the Nation to discuss foreign election interference, threats to President Donald Trump’s life, the impact of illegal mass migration on communities across America, and more. See below for highlights and watch the full interview on YouTube and Rumble.

    On foreign election interference:
    “I think this is going to become a fact of life in the 21st century. It’s just very easy now for anyone to do it. You don’t have to be a big nation-state. 
    “They’re kind of all different. The Russians are looking at the preexisting fractures in our country, and then they try to sow division, getting us to fight with one another. That’s primarily what we’ve seen them focused on, sowing messages out there, including with inauthentic things that they create. You use AI, you make a fake video, you put it out there just to get Americans to fight against each other. 
    “In the case of Iran, it seems to be more specifically focused on Donald Trump. It’s now publicly documented that they’re trying to kill him. If Iran is trying to kill Donald Trump, they most certainly don’t want him to win the election. That’s what their efforts have been [focused on], including the attempted hack and leak operations. 
    “The Chinese are new to this business or growing into it. In past cases that we’ve seen publicly disclosed, [they have been] going after specific candidates that they view as being anti-China. I don’t think they want Donald Trump to win, but I do think you’ve seen them focus on things like congressional races in the past. I also think they’re laying the groundwork for more expansive operations in the future to influence American public opinion, on things like Taiwan and what’s happening in the South China Sea. 
    “There are multiple actors out there that are in this space now, and I think you’ll see more in the years to come, because you don’t need to build anything really expensive. You just need access to the World Wide Web. We’re an open country, an open society with open means of communication, and the best way to deal with all this is awareness. People need to understand that not everything you see on the internet is true.”
    On the congressional testimony of Microsoft’s president:
    “What he alluded to are some instances in the past where some fake audio or fake video generated using AI is put out there, and it influences the election in 48 hours. I think we’re a little bit insulated from that. Not that we should let our guard down, but a lot of the votes are already in by the time 48 hours comes around. That doesn’t mean it’s irrelevant. In very close races, it could tip the scales.
    “Here’s the bottom line. If you see something out there, a video that just seems way too scandalous, I would pause for a second and make sure that it can be verified. That’s my advice to everybody. Don’t just believe something you see for the first time. It may have been something that happened five years ago, and they’re making it look like it happened yesterday. It may be something that has been made up using an AI mechanism to do so.
    “Again, I’m not saying 48 hours before the election is irrelevant in America. I am saying it’s probably less impactful than it is in some of these other countries who don’t have mail voting, early voting, where so many of the votes are already in by then.”
    On the hack and leak operation that targeted the Trump campaign:  
    “I think you’re going to see more of that in the years to come. I remind everybody that back in 2016, when this first happened, I said, ‘That’s a foreign operation that was used to target the Clinton campaign.’ So, [organized operations] are going to become [more regular]. I’m not saying we should be happy about it or accepting of it, but we need to understand that this is going to become a regular feature.
    “[It won’t just be a feature] of presidential races. Presidential races get so much attention that I think you can wade through some of that. I think some of these lower ballot races are the ones that are more susceptible, because if you’re running for Congress or Senate somewhere, and someone dumped something like this on you, it’s much harder to get the truth out there in time for it to be cleared up. There just isn’t going to be as much interest [in the story], and there aren’t going to be as many people covering it.
    “I don’t know anything more than what’s been publicly reported when it comes to that hack and leak operation. Perhaps we’ll know more this week. It doesn’t surprise me that someone clicked on something [that allowed hackers in]. [The hackers] got into the system, they stole documents, and then they tried to give it to the media. 
    “Here’s what we’re going to see. One day, they’re not going to take it and give it to a campaign or the media; they’re going to give it to some online journalist, somebody who will run with this stuff, begin to report on it, or maybe even alter it. For example, [they will] make up a fake email where it looks like a real email. Maybe it is a real email, but they altered a few words in it and put it out there. By the time you put out that fire, you know it’s done damage. 
    “In a presidential race, everybody will cover that. I think you can get to the truth a lot faster in a down ballot race. It’s going to be a lot harder for some candidates to prove that that email is fake. By the time they do, the election may be over.”
    On Americans’ lack of trust in federal law enforcement:
    “What information is made available to the American public, which deserves to know, on what is behind not just one, but two assassination attempts on Donald Trump? I think that’s where this lack of trust in institutions [comes from]. Multiple people in the Federal Bureau of Investigation face charges or were fired for misconduct in the way they handled issues about Donald Trump just eight years ago. I think people are right to be suspicious and distrustful.
    “That’s why it’s so damaging, for example, when 51 former intelligence officials signed a letter saying that a laptop of Hunter Biden is Russian disinformation, then it turns out not to be true. People logically conclude that this is an example of how these agencies and our institutions work against candidates they don’t like. It undermines people’s trust in our institutions. That lack of trust is eroded in government, in the media, in our agencies, and within the government. 
    “That’s why disclosure and openness with regard to these investigations is so critical. It’s not just because we want to know. It’s because it’s important to preserve trust in our institutions.”
    On the FBI’s duty to be transparent about foreign influence in the 2024 elections: 
    “I trust rank and file, in the field FBI agents to do their job. I don’t know what their leadership in some of these agencies or the mid-level [management] will do with it, because you’ve seen a history in the past of there being bias. I hope that’s not true.  
    “I’m not saying I know this to be true or even that I think it is true, but let’s say there is a foreign nexus to one of these two attempts [on Donald Trump’s life]. Would they allow that information to be put out there to the American public before the election in November?”
    On the bomb threats in Springfield, Ohio, being called in by individuals overseas: 
    “A lot of these calls where they call and tell the SWAT team to go to someone’s house because there’s a murder occurring, a lot of these come from overseas. That doesn’t mean it’s being directed by a government overseas. It could be. I haven’t heard that. But just because they’re coming from overseas doesn’t mean the government is behind it. But we have these kinds of individuals all over the world that like to do these kinds of things.” 
    On the strain of illegal mass migration on communities across America:
    “At a minimum, it shouldn’t keep us from saying, ‘Maybe I don’t believe the dogs and the cats thing, but there are literally people moving in by the thousands.’ They come to Charleroi, Pennsylvania. That’s a 4,000-person city that has 2,500 migrants. 
    “Americans who are not intolerant, they’re not bigots, are troubled by the fact that their city is being flooded. In Springfield, you see legitimate reports of huge increases in traffic accidents, leading to slower police response times, and overcrowded schools. This puts a strain on a community, and if you complain about it somehow, you’re a bigot, you’re a racist, you’re a hater. Everyday Americans are being made to feel like they’re haters because they’re complaining about something that all and any of us would complain about. 
    “If any of us, I don’t care who we are, lived in a city of 4,000 people, and you brought in 2,500 migrants overnight into one place, there would be problems there. It doesn’t make you a bigot. That’s the problem we should be focusing on.”
    On media coverage of illegal mass migration:
    “What should matter the most is there is a real migratory crisis…. There are real impacts happening in our country with this movement of mass migration, and that has not gotten the coverage that it deserves. You say you’ve covered it, but it hasn’t gotten the coverage. The cats and dogs thing has gotten way more coverage than the real world impacts that this is having, and I think that’s what needs to change in the way this issue is covered.”

    MIL OSI USA News –