Taranjit Singh Sandhu, India’s ambassador to the United States, meet US’ Indo-Pacific Coordinator Kurt Campbell and Deputy National Security Advisor (DNSA) for Cyber and Emerging Technology Anne Neuberger on Wednesday (24 March) at the Indian Embassy in Washington DC.

Ambassadors of Australia and Japan to the US were also present at the meeting, which comes just days after the first leadership-level meeting of the Quad.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga had participated in the leaders’ meet, which took place on 12 March.

The presence of Deputy NSA Neuberger at the meet suggests that cooperation in emerging technologies was on the agenda, experts said.

A joint statement issued after the leaders’ meet said the Quad countries will cooperate in dealing with shared challenges in the realm of cyber space and launch a working group for cooperation on emerging technologies.

“...we will launch a critical- and emerging-technology working group to facilitate cooperation on international standards and innovative technologies of the future,” the joint statement issued by the US, India, Australia and Japan said.

“We will begin cooperation on the critical technologies of the future to ensure that innovation is consistent with a free, open, inclusive, and resilient Indo-Pacific,” it reads, pledging to “redouble...commitment to Quad engagement.”

This could translate into Quad countries working together on critical technology infrastructure, such as 5G, and deeper engagement on artificial intelligence.

Quad’s commitment to cooperation comes at a time when China is racing ahead in fields like 5G and artificial intelligence, demonstrating that it can be a leading innovator both globally and domestically.