New Delhi, Jan. 15 -- Since the resurrection of the Quad in 2017, also dubbed Quad 2.0, the United States has released three National Security Strategies (NSS), each referencing the Quad with varying levels of emphasis. China has been the central driver behind the Quad resurgence, and the NSS addresses Beijing extensively, and the language used in these documents has evolved over a period of time. The evolution of the Quad is seen as closely tied with China's policies in the Indo-Pacific.

The NSS 2025 of the second Trump administration marks a pivotal shift from prior strategies, prioritizing "America First" and calling for "burden sharing and burden shifting" rather than explicit great-power competition. It takes a more transactional to...