By Choekyi Lhamo
DHARAMSHALA, Mar. 16: The first summit of Quad leaders (US, India, Japan and Australia) held virtually on Friday raised pressure on countries in Indo-Pacific, particularly targeting China to follow the rule of law and desist from any unilateral show of force in the region. US President Joe Biden, Indian PM Narendra Modi, Japanese PM Yoshihide Suga and Australian PM Scott Morrison held their first meeting of Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) as the leaders discussed COVID-19 vaccination plan, climate change and technology.
“The biggest thing about the Quad summit was that finally, it took place. All the leaders were on the same page and PM Suga firmly indicated that he is a proud successor to Abe’s legacy,” said a former foreign secretary. The leaders signed off on a plan on COVID- vaccinations and logistics with the help of their financial resources in the Indo-Pacific. The Quad Vaccine partnership will build on India’s Vaccine Maitri initiative by creating manufacturing capacities in India as New Delhi has already supplied close to 60 million doses to some 70 countries.
“The geographical location of each partner is such that Quad will be a pillar of stability in Indo-Pacific and provide ASEAN countries and far away pacific nations a voice against any coercion in the area,” said a former Indian Ambassador to the US. China was not named during the summit but the joint statement put out later assured that Quad countries will be “unrestrained from coercion”. The leaders will have an in-person meeting later this year, either on the sidelines of G-7 in the UK or more likely as a separate event in the US.
The summit on March 12 provoked a bitter response from Chinese state mouth-piece Global Times that said, “India has become a negative asset of these groupings…It is, in fact, carrying out a kind of strategic blackmail against China,” referring to BRICS grouping (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). The article argued that the US considered India as the most important Quad member and was “very inclined toward the US’ Indo-Pacific Strategy”.
The Quad grouping was almost disbanded in 2008 after its formation during the 2004 Tsunami, as China appeared to exercise a veto over the foreign policy of Quad partners but was eventually revived during the global pandemic in 2020. The report indicated that Beijing might try to cut a side deal with at least one of the Quad partners to derail the coalition yet again.
