Quad Grouping

In News

• The Indian PM will visit Washington for the Quad Summit and New York for UNGA.
  • China has slammed the QUAD grouping.

Recent Viewpoints of External Affairs minister about QUAD

• Broad and Substantive Agenda:
  • As against the Chinese remark of QUAD being an “Exclusive Cliques” targeting other countries, QUAD has several cooperation agendas.
• The Era of Plurilateralism:
  • In the present era Multilateralism shows inability to address key issues of the day.
    • Whereas bilateralism has its own shortcomings.
  • In such time, different plurilateral groups can pool both funds and necessary resources to forward proper rule based agendas and order.
• Other similar Plurilateral Groups:
  • The Indo Pacific is witnessing several similar plurilateral agreements. between France, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Maldives etc being active parts.
• Force of Unification rather than Fragmentation:
  • QUAD nations have a good track record with respect to upholding international laws and want rule based order.
  • They have also set an example of collaboration and integration in the region.
  • This consultative process has adopted the middle path which is often the best path.
  • India has been the first responder to any calamity in the Indian Ocean Region with initiatives like SAGAR..

About QUAD

• It is also known as Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QSD).
• QUAD is an informal group of India, US, Japan and Australia.
• It is a strategic dialogue with the objective to ensure a free, open, inclusive and prosperous Indo Pacific.
• Shared values between the nations are:
  • Political democracies
  • Market economies
  • Pluralistic societies

Backdrop of QUAD Formation

• Rising Chinese Influence and Assertion in Indo-Pacific
• Chinese unilateral claim over Nine-Dash Line and ignorance of International Court of Arbitration Verdict
• India China Standoff
• Iron fist handling of Hongkong Protests
• Imperialistic attitude toward Taiwan.

Importance of QUAD for India

• Countering Chinese Influence: 
  • Recent stand-offs on the Indo-China Border and reluctance of Russia to step in and build pressure is forcing India to look for alternatives.
• Post COVID Diplomacy: 
  • The disruption across the world and non-transparent systems of China pose an opportunity for India to take lead and become the World’s Manufacturing Hub.
  • India can leverage its expertise in the vaccine and pharma industry to increase its soft power.
  • Further, Japan and the US want to shift their manufacturing companies out of China in order to curb its imperialistic behaviour.
• Net Security Provider in Indian Ocean: 
  • India under the SAGAR initiative wants to become a net security provider in the Indian Ocean.
  • QUAD cooperation may give India access to multiple strategic locations for creating Naval bases.
• Multipolar World: 
  • India has supported a rule based multipolar world and QUAD can help it in achieving its ambition of becoming a regional superpower.

Challenges before QUAD

• Formal opposition by China: China has formally intimated its displeasure over the QUAD meetings.
  • It is being termed as Asian NATO.
• Trade and Supply Chains: As seen recently, China is trying to leverage its position in Trade and Commerce to arm-twist other nations especially China and Japan.
  • Recently, MV Anastasia, an Australian coal-carrying ship was stranded for more than a month on the Chinese Coast. Even Indian Sailors got trapped in that.
  • China threatened to stop the supply of rare earth metals to the Japanese electronic industry.
  • The Corona pandemic disrupted the Global supply chain due to lockdown in China.
• Chinese Closeness to ASEAN: With the signing of Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), ASEAN and China have come further close.
• Cheque Book Diplomacy of China: The One Belt One Road Initiative, Maritime Silk Route, Unsustainable Debt and Project Fundings, etc are being deployed by China to attract small nations.
• Different Aspirations of QUAD Nations: QUAD’s coherence may suffer due to
  • India’s bid to balance QUAD and RIC (Russia, India and China),
  • The reluctance shown by Australia for QUAD in past,
  • Japan and the US are seeking their own economic interests with China.
  • Also there is a lack of coherence on the definition of Indo-Pacific.

Way Forward

• Strengthening Blue Dot Network: 
  • All 4 countries must pool their resources to check the Economic might of China, rather than just letting it function as a certification agency for infrastructure projects.
• Coherent strategy: All the member countries must develop a unified approach to tackle China rather than act in Individual interests.
• Formalise the talks: The formalisation may help to give QUAD a more structured format.
• QUAD can be an effective tool to counter Chinese adventure and imperialism ambitions in the Indo-Pacific.

Source: TOI