QUAD and India

QUAD and India- Relevance for UPSC Exam

General Studies II- Important International institutions, agencies and fora – their structure, mandate.

What is QUAD?

• The Quad is an informal multilateral grouping of India, the U.S., Australia, and Japan aimed at cooperation for a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
• The region, composed of two oceans and spanning multiple continents is a hub of maritime trade and naval establishments.
• While not stated explicitly by the leaders, one of the major basis for the grouping
• Following the Indian Ocean tsunami, India, Japan, Australia, and the US created an informal alliance to collaborate on disaster relief efforts.
• In 2007, then PM of Japan, Shinzo Abe, formalized the alliance, as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or the QUAD.
• The QUAD has focused on expanding existing agreements between member countries and highlighting their shared values.
• Additionally, unlike NATO, the Quad does not include provisions for collective defense, instead choosing to conduct joint military exercises as a show of unity and diplomatic cohesion.
• The group was resurrected in 2017, reflecting changing attitudes in the region toward China’s growing influence.
• USA saw the Quad as key to a pivot toward placing more focus on the Indo-Pacific region, particularly as a counterweight to China’s assertive actions.
• The Quad leaders held their first formal summit in 2021 and met again virtually in March.

QUAD and China

• USA:USA had followed a policy to contain China’s increasing influence in East Asia and has described China, along with Russia, as a strategic rival in its National Security Strategy, National Defence Strategy and the Pentagon’s report on Indo-Pacific Strategy.
• Australia:Australia being concerned about China’s growing interest in its land, infrastructure and politics, and influence on its universities has considered its overwhelming economic dependence on China for prosperity, Australia has continued its commitment to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with China.
• Japan: Japan has expressed concerns related to China’s territorial transgression in the region though trade with China remains the key lifeline to the Japanese economy. Japan is balancing its economic needs and territorial concerns with China
• Japan has also agreed to involve in the Belt and Road Initiative by participating in infrastructure programs in third country.
• India: China’s violation of international norms, particularly its construction of military facilities on reclaimed islands in the South China Sea, and its growing military and economic power, pose a strategic challenge to India.
• India is carefully balancing China on one hand and the US on the other, by remaining committed to strategic autonomy to China as in the case of Taiwan issue.
• India did not permit Australia to participate in Malabar Trilateral Maritime exercises between India, US and Japan.
• Mamallapuram summit between President Xi Jinping and PM Modi is a positive development, valued by both sides as key to giving strategic guidance to stakeholders on both sides.

Challenges

• China’s claim over nearly the entire region of South China Sea, which gives it the right to manufacture islands was rejected by the International Court of Arbitration in 2016.
• The ASEAN countries also have a well-knit relationship with China.
• Considering the economic might of China and the dependence of Quad nations like Japan and Australia on China, the Quad nations cannot afford to have strained relations with it.
• With the aim at balancing their own interest, the nations in the Quad grouping have different aspirations and thus the coherence in the vision of Quad nation as a grouping is absent.

Way Forward

• The Quad needs to have a clearer vision for itself.
• It is important to go for a talk of a ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific’.
• India, Japan, and Australia can take the lead in infrastructural projects, while the US too needs to be more pro-active in pushing ahead the vision of connectivity.
• The Quad should focus on building a robust regional consultation mechanism.
• The QUAD must coordinate with ASEAN nations on issues of regional importance.
• The Quad gives a unique opportunity for India to be an active participant in shaping regional security architecture with global undertones.

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