When US acting secretary of defence Patrick Shanahan steps up to address one of Asia’s biggest security forums this week, he is expected to reveal details of a “new” phase in the United States’ Indo-Pacific strategy. The US has also enlisted support for the policy from Japan, Australia and India, with the four countries forming what is known as the Quad. Rajeev Ranjan Chaturvedy, a visiting fellow at RSIS, said the link between the Quad and the Indo-Pacific framework was a major limitation and new challenges required a change in focus.