‘Another empty promise’: Quad’s proposed Fiji port project raises doubts

A proposal by Quad to build a port in Fiji, seen by analysts as a move to counter China’s rising economic clout in the Pacific region, has fuelled doubts about whether the four-member security bloc is committed to completing the project amid different policy priorities.

At a meeting of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad, in New Delhi last week, the foreign ministers of Australia, India, Japan and the United States – Penny Wong, S. Jaishankar, Toshimitsu Motegi and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, respectively – agreed to undertake the bloc’s first joint infrastructure project.

“We are going to be partnering on issues of port infrastructure, in particular in response to insufficient port capacity in the Pacific Islands. We are announcing plans to work with Fiji,” Rubio said.

Wong said the project was the bloc’s strongest commitment to providing high-quality infrastructure in the Pacific region.

The meeting marks a revival of the Quad, which was founded in 2007 to counter China’s regional influence, after the bloc failed to agree on a leaders’ summit in Delhi last year, primarily due to tensions between US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi over Washington’s tariffs against India.

Analysts say Trump’s lack of interest in the Quad signals his transactional approach to foreign policy, favouring bilateral agreements over multilateralism.