India's embrace of the Quad

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India's embrace of the Quad

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• Thank you Xi Jinping: The aggression by the Chinese has finally helped India overcome all historical hesitations and put the Quad at the centre of its Indo-Pacific strategy. The coalition of India, Australia, Japan and the US is now institutionalised.
• Various bilaterals: India's engagement will now be annual, and it has many bilateral arrangements for logistics, communications etc. with them. The BECA signed with the US will help access geospatial intelligene thereby raising accuracy of Indian missiles. Australia too has joined the Malabar exercise this year. 
• From bilateral to plurilateral: India is now converting its bilaterals into plurilateral engagements, and the continued Chinese aggression at the border is simply speeding up this process. The Quad not only has formal sanction from GoI, but it also considers it central to a multipolar Asia and hence a multipolar world.
• Autonomy: India seeks strategic autonomy in the midst of a multipolar world, all the while checking Chinese domination. India is open to the US call for expanding the Quad, by adding new nations like Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore etc. The South Koreans (ROK) may also join in, if their relations with Japan improve.
• The Europeans too: France, Germany and the UK are keen as Germany has a declared Indo-Pacific strategy, while the other two have territories in Indian Ocean. Then, ASEAN too has declared an Indo-Pacific strategy. The Quad will expand fast.
• What India wants: It wants an open, inclusive, transparent, rules-based and balanced security architecture in Indo-Pacific. If China believes it can push its way around in Asia, then there will be a reaction. Too much, and even containment will have to happen.
• What Quad should do next: First, issue joing declarations instead of separate statements, after Foreign Ministers' meetings. China won't take it seriously otherwise. Start with a joint declaration rejecting the Chinese claims over South China Sea, in accordance with the UNCLOS award. Then move on to Hong Kong, where China spoke of "one country, two systems" for 50 years. Then call for peaceful resolution of the Taiwan issue. 
• All more eager: Japan's new PM Suga Yoshihide is carrying forward the Quad legacy of ex PM Abe Shinzo. The US will not change its approach with a new government, because China remains an adversary. And Australia is now facing punitive trade measures from the Chinese, thereby deepening the sense of Quad engagement further!
• Combined power: If these Quad countries come together, their combined economic and military capabilities will outstrip China's. They must now demonstrate their willingness to do it. The Quad is not a hedging exercise any more, but a path towards global plurilateralism.

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