Kurt Campbell Identifies India as Primary Force Behind Quad

Former United States Deputy Secretary of State Kurt M. Campbell identified India as the primary force behind the scenes in establishing the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad). Speaking at the Hudson Institute, Campbell noted that while the United States, Australia, and Japan were involved, India served as the leading nation in shaping the partnership.

Campbell recalled that President Joe Biden spent over an hour persuading Prime Minister Narendra Modi to join the grouping at the leader level, as Modi had been initially reluctant. He also highlighted a period of cooperation during the first Trump administration, when the United States provided urgent intelligence to India during a time of peril along the line of actual control.

While citing the success of the Quad's STEM education initiative, which attracted 6,000 Indian applicants for 2025, Campbell expressed concern regarding the current state of U.S.-India ties. He asserted that mutual respect must remain a foundational principle for the relationship between the two nations.