Quad Stem Fellowships Extended To ASEAN Member Countries: Says EAM Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday announced that the second cycle of Quad STEM Fellowships has been extended to ASEAN member countries too.

EAM Jaishankar's remarks came on the closing day of the Raisina Dialogue in the national capital on Saturday. He was addressing the 'Quad Think Tank Forum' session at the Raisina Dialogue.

"One very unique Quad initiative has been the STEM Fellowship program - under which about a 100 scholars from the four countries have enrolled in courses in US universities," said Jaishankar.

"I am very happy to share with you all that the second cycle of Quad STEM Fellowships has been extended to ASEAN member countries as well," he added.

The Quad Fellowship is an initiative of the governments of India, Australia, Japan, and the United States. Announced by the Quad partners on 24 September 2021, this scholarship programme is designed to build ties among the next generation of scientists and technologists.

The Quad Fellowship is operated in consultation with a non-governmental task force composed of academic, foreign policy, and private sector leaders from each Quad country. Beginning in 2024, the fellowship will be administered by the Institute of International Education (IIE), a global not-for-profit organisation that manages many of the world's most prestigious scholarship and fellowship programmes.

The Quad Fellowship sponsors exceptional master's and doctoral students to study science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in the United States. The fellowship supports students from the four Quad countries - Australia, India, Japan, and the United States and expands this year to include sponsorship of students from the ASEAN countries.

The fellowship develops a network of science and technology experts committed to advancing innovation and collaboration in the private, public, and academic sectors, in their own nations and among Quad countries. The program builds foundational understanding among Quad Fellows of one another's societies and cultures through programming and networking opportunities with each country's top scientists, technologists, and politicians.

Addressing the session, Jaishankar also said that coming together of India, the US, Australia and Japan as part of the Quad group serves to illustrate the growth of a multipolar order and advance a post-Cold War thinking against 'spheres of influence'.

"I believe it (Quad) has five messages. One, it reflects the growth of a multipolar order. Two, it is post-Alliance and post-Cold War thinking. Three, it is against spheres of influence. Four, It expresses the democratizing of the global space and a collaborative, not unilateral approach. And five, it is a statement that in this day and age, others cannot have a veto on our choices," EAM Jaishankar said.

Highlighting the significance of Quad grouping in Indo-Pacific at the session, the EAM said, "Now, this in turn would elicit the question, why the Indo-Pacific? And the answer, I think, by now is very clear. The post-1945 division of what till then was perceived to be a cohesive threat resulted in our contemplating the Indian Ocean and the Pacific one as two separate entities. This separation was an outcome of American strategic priorities in 1945."

Raisina Dialogue is India's flagship conference on geopolitics and geoeconomics, committed to addressing the most challenging issues facing the global community.