Quad Foreign Ministers Meet: India More Forthcoming Now

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Quad Foreign Ministers Meet: India More Forthcoming Now

Since 2007,  the Quad – a grouping that consists of the US, Australia, Japan, and India – has come of age, almost.

Unlike most such meetings, the fourth meeting  of foreign ministers, has a lot of verbiage in the public space.  While Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia appreciated Quad support against “those who would seek to coerce us”, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken  said that while conflict with China was not ‘inevitable’, the group intended to “defend” the rules-based order, now challenged by the Russian threat to Ukraine and the support of ‘some countries’. 

 

India circumspect on Myanmar and Ukraine

Japan and India were more circumspect. Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar simply said the Quad was a force for good, and dodged a question on Ukraine.  Divisions were also apparent, writes Tara Kartha (Distinguished Fellow at the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, New Delhi) in the position on Myanmar, where the US and Australia were again on the same page on the ‘deeply troubling’ situation, but where Jaishankar noted concerns as an immediate neighbour, and also observed  that “we don’t follow a policy of national sanctions”.

Condemning terrorism: On Pakistan, India has reasons to be pleased with the Joint Statement  critical of Pakistan’s support to terrorism specifically mentioning the Mumbai and Pathankot attacks.

China displeased: The joint statement was also critical of North Korean missile tests and  on South and East China Sea issues.  China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian declared that “the so-called Quad mechanism is, in nature, a tool to contain and circle China, and preserve America’s hegemony,” and a “man-made provocation of confrontation”.

Jaishankar was quick to seize on this comment, writes Kartha “observing caustically that repeated criticism by China did not make the grouping less credible. Delhi was far more forthcoming this time, with the Foreign Minister using the Australia–India presser  to point out that China  was not just discussed, but that its disregard for written agreements was an issue of legitimate interest to all.”

 

Positives on defence and technological cooperation

The bilateral between Australia and India was “high on content, with plans for infrastructure investment, the Inaugural Cyber Framework Dialogue  and an upcoming Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement. Both countries had earlier signed a vital MLA (Mutual Logistical Access) agreement in defence, which underlines increasing operational compatibility in (American-made) platforms…..

“The India-Australia Meet said nothing specifically on defence. But India has its “2+2’ construct — which is the defence and foreign ministers’ construct — with each of the other three nations, who are separately treaty allies in a different context. India has logistical access arrangements with each of these, which means the Indian Navy’s reach is considerable if it should so decide. In sum, treaty allies share open security commonalities, while India stands apart, even while engaging bilaterally with each.”

But as Jaishankar says, to just see Quad as a ganging up on defence is to belittle it. There is tremendous potential on all fronts like on vaccines, in rare earths etc. The Quad’s common principles for technology can be optimised provided India can at least get to 5G, at a time when Vietnam, a Quad Plus partner, is researching 6G.

 

India’s embrace of Quad has been swift and growing

India could take many positives from the Quad meeting.  For a country that was for long hesitant to give a more formal shape to its interactions with the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad), the Hindustan Times writes “India’s embrace of the grouping in recent years has been swift and growing.”

For India, writes Harsh V Pant (director, studies, and head, strategic studies programme, ORF) the Melbourne Meet was once again an opportunity  to “underline the centrality of Quad, once dismissed by many, to the rapidly evolving strategic agenda of the Indo- Pacific. As Jaishankar argued, robust bilateral relations between the Quad countries, their strategic convergences and shared democratic values combined to make Quad a vibrant and substantial framework. Without India’s active participation, there won’t be any Quad.

“The remaining three nations — the US, Japan and Australia — are long standing alliance partners in the traditional sense. It is India’s participation in the Quadrilateral framework that gives this platform a new identity, making it one of the most creative exercises in partnership-building in recent times. It is not surprising that the White House views India as a driving force of Quad and an engine for regional growth."

 

India’s candid views on China’s coercive policies

Jaishankar rightly dismissed China’s continuing opposition to Quad, arguing that the grouping has a “positive message and a positive approach” and criticising it repeatedly will not make it less credible. This was in response to the Chinese foreign ministry suggesting “that the so-called Quad group cobbled together by the US, Japan, India and Australia is essentially a tool for containing and besieging China to maintain US hegemony” even as “it aims to stoke confrontation and undermine international solidarity and cooperation.”

What was striking was also how the EAM candidly expressed and shared his views on China’s coercive policies with his counterparts. There was a time when New Delhi used to be cagey about discussing its difficult bilateral ties with its partners. Today, it is talking about the border problem with China with its partners because “it’s an issue in which a lot of countries legitimately take interest, particularly if they are from the Indo-Pacific region”.

 

Jaishankar’s visit to the Philippines: shaping the regional environment

Jaishankar’s three day visit to the Philippines after the Quad summit, writes Kakar  “also showcased India’s willingness to more proactively shape the strategic contours of the Indo-Pacific.This visit came days after Manila agreed to buy three batteries of the BrahMos cruise missile in a $375-million deal from India. These missiles, to be received by the Philippines Navy by the end of 2022, are being viewed as a major capability booster when the confrontation between Manila and Beijing is only intensifying.”

The Philippines is looking to diversify its partners and India is willing to up its game in Southeast Asia. And, this convergence was underscored by the Philippines foreign minister Teodoro L Locsin Jr who argued that “as maritime countries, the Philippines and India, both at the crossroads of the busiest sea lanes in the world, know the critical role of the rule of law in maintaining stability on the water — that most unstable element yet so vital to the life and thriving of nations.”

As the churn continues in the Indo-Pacific, Kakar concludes “the maturing of the Quad and New Delhi’s attempts to shape the regional environment not only to further its interests but also for wider regional stability are likely to ensure that coercive and aggressive practices of China are leading to a new equilibrium with long-term consequences.”

 

India investing in regional deterrence

To promote peace and security in the region therefore,  writes Lt Gen Arvinder Singh Lamba (former Vice-Chief of Army Staff) “it is critical to strengthen engagement in defence capabilities, invest in capacity-building, maritime security and counter-terrorism and advocating the rule of law. In his speech at the Chiefs of Air Staff Conclave earlier in the month, defence minister Rajnath Singh said that the deteriorating geopolitical landscape requires strengthening of security frameworks, based on the principles of cooperation, collaboration and coexistence. Seen in this backdrop, the BrahMos deal is India’s first export of this critical strategic weapon system, which will have significant strategic implications.”

The BrahMos deal with Philippines “adds a new dimension towards evolving the much-needed idea of a collective regional deterrence to challenge arbitrary actions as the nine-dash line. India’s successful test-firing of next-generation hypersonic BrahMos 2 missile (7 Mach and extended ranges) will, in due course, enable a potent collective deterrence. The tacit approval of Southeast Asian countries to AUKUS is also seen as a bid to balance China’s growing influence in the South China Sea region.”

India and the Association of South East Asian Nations, notes Lamba  “are in their eighth year of strategic partnership, and 28th year of relations. The presence of the entire ASEAN leadership on India’s Republic Day in 2019 reflected the strategic depth and trust among these nations and was an affirmation of India’s Act East Policy.

“The need for a credible regional security architecture to curb China’s brazen coercive diplomacy and expansive policies afflicting ASEAN members is indeed urgent. Regional Deterrence will be the new imperative, the new counter-narrative to China’s irresponsible conduct. The acquisition of BrahMos by Vietnam, Indonesia will add immensely to credible regional deterrence.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of India’s role of being the net security provider in the Indian Ocean Region is now taking shape. As a result, India’s relationship with ASEAN, a key cornerstone of our foreign policy, may be finally consolidated by addition of this critical security dimension that ASEAN members have sought from India’s leadership for a long time.”

 

The Quad meeting was ‘political, sincere and focused on how to take the grouping forward with a shared vision’

At another level, writes Shishir Gupta (Executive Editor of the Hindustan Times) “the Quad meeting has laid a firm foundation for the Tokyo summit of US President Joe Biden, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Australian Prime Minister in May-June with all parties coming on the same page in Melbourne."

Unlike the past two meetings of Quad ministers in New York (2020) and Tokyo (2021), the Melbourne conference was political, sincere and focused on how to take the grouping forward with a shared vision. According to top diplomats based in Australia and US, the Quad has taken off as a positive grouping with foreign ministers holding focused discussions with each country bringing its expertise to share on the conference table. “The Quad has actually taken off at Melbourne with all the four countries agreeing to work together on a shared agenda and vision for the Indo-Pacific and beyond,” said a senior diplomat.

The fundamental underpinnings of Quad, writes Gupta  were thus  “clearly defined at Melbourne with each partner upfront and upbeat about the grouping.”

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