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Quad to become Quad plus

Theme

On 12th march 2021, India, the USA, Australia and Japan conducted the first ever summit to discuss regional and global challenges. Till now there were only semi-regular meeting.

What is Quad?

  • India, Australia, the USA & Japan came together to collaborate in relief efforts after the Indian Ocean earthquake and Tsunami in 2004. This Tsunami core group formed ‘Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad)’ in 2007.
  • The primary objective of Quad nations is to ensure a free and open Indo-pacific region, which is increasingly being misused by China to its advantage. Quad nations conducted their largest joint naval exercises in 2020.
  • Quad is informally called ‘Asian NATO‘ since it has the scope to become a powerful coalition just like NATO in Europe and North American countries.

Benefits of Quad:

  • Collaboration in defence, maritime security, counterterrorism, and information exchange is highly beneficial to all the Quad nations.
  • Many countries in the world are importing raw materials and goods from China and hence suffered a lot in the pandemic time due to broken supply chains. At present, all the Quad nations have trade relations with China. Quad is a great opportunity to diversify supply chains to reduce dependence on China and to opt for Free Trade Agreements among each other. This kind of economic collaboration is helpful to all the countries involved and also for the global economy.
  • In order to diversify supply chains, Quad nations may help among themselves with the investments to tap the resources. This is very helpful in getting Foreign Direct Investments (FDI). For example, at present Australia has the world’s sixth-largest reserves of rare-earth minerals, which is essential to manufacture smartphones, EV batteries and high-powered motors. China supplies almost 60% of the world’s rare earth minerals. The positive thing is that most of Australia’s are untapped and needs investment to extract the minerals. And by this, dependence on China for rare earth minerals will be reduced. This cooperation is a great opportunity for all the Quad nations to increase exports and to improve the economy.
  • Quad meeting in 2020 included New Zealand, South Korea and Vietnam too, which is signalling towards the Quad-plus coalition.
  • It was announced that financing for Covid vaccines is the top priority for the latest meeting, which is going to be conducted on 12th March 2021. This cooperation is very beneficial to strengthen global health security.

Conclusion:

Quad is a great opportunity to diversify supply chains and to counterbalance China’s aggression. There is a high possibility that some other countries too will take part in it and it may become Quad plus. Quad has the potential to become a strong coalition like NATO in Europe.

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Post Graduation Opportunities In Australia

The world is your oyster! The world is yours to conquer after you complete your graduation in Australia. There are plenty of routes one can take to enhance their career or to settle down. Once graduation is complete, the students can apply for further studies to enhance their knowledge and creative pursuits. Like a candy shop for students, there are several post-graduate courses and diplomas available in various universities across Australia that a student can choose from.

There are various Visas that students can apply for. There is the attractive Temporary Graduate Visa (Subclass 485) that students can apply for to stay longer(18 months) in the country to work and hone their skills and get work experience and eventually get a permanent residency. The 402 Training and Research Visa for students allow them to enhance and improve their skills for two years under the guidance of the employer. The 487 Regional Sponsored Visa leads to permanent residency with work for 3 years. There are other Visas like the 885, 886 and 887 Visa which allows permanent residency too.

There are various top-class universities in Australia that students can choose to do their post-graduate studies. The top 5 Universities in Australia according to QS World University Rankings are -:
1) University of Melbourne
2) Australian National University
3) University of Sydney
4) University of Queensland
5) UNSW Sydney

There are varying Master’s degrees for those who wish to continue with their academic studies.
1) Traditional Masters- This is the traditional form of Masters which allows students to study the subject of their choice in more details. This generally paves the way to research. 

2) “Change of direction Masters” -This is for students who want to gain information and study a new field which is different from their field of study in graduation.

3) “Professional development Masters”- This allows students to have a more comprehensive understanding of their field through training. For example, a teacher can enhance his/her skills by opting for Education management.

The various postgraduate programmes in Australia can cost the student anywhere between AUD $22,000 and AUD $50,000 per year (USD $15,100-34,305) for overseas students. However, like Universities around the world, different courses have different fees. A MA in Arts and Humanities will cost less while a course in Science will cost more.

Barring academics, students can opt to work in a field of their choice where the employer may keep the employees via Employer Nomination Scheme Visa and then they can stay in Australia for as long as they keep working under the employer. Students can also decide to take a break from academics and work and travel the country. The students can apply for the Tourist visa which allows international students to stay in the country for either three, six or twelve months. Australia has a lot of scenic tourist spots such as the Sydney Opera House, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Blue Mountains National Park, Bondi Beach to name a few which is a pleasure for the senses.

Australia, the largest country in Oceania offers a lot of opportunities for students to pursue post their graduation. It is up to the students to decide the direction they want to take. They can also decide to return back to their own country as a graduate degree from Australia is invaluable in any country and commands respect.