India, Oct. 25 -- The Quad members have varying levels of military capabilities. Domestic political considerations limit the ability to cooperate with one another. Territorial disputes, regional tensions, and non-traditional security threats are challenges which get accentuated by geographies.

The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) came into being after the widely destructive Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, coordinating humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. This led to the first informal meeting in Manila in May 2007. It is notable that a calamity of this magnitude germinated this idea and it nurtured into a diplomatic and strategic grouping of Australia, India, Japan and the United States.

The original purpose essentially trac...