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In News
- Recently, the External Affairs Minister said that the Quad comprising the U.S., India, Japan and Australia—is the most prominent plurilateral platform.
More about the news
- The minister was delivering a lecture on ‘India’s Vision of the Indo-Pacific’.
- Viewpoints of External Affairs minister about QUAD:
- Indo-Pacific:
- India envisages a free, open, inclusive and peaceful Indo-Pacific built on a rules-based order and sustainable and transparent infrastructure investment.
- He said the prospects for the global order depend on a more equitable and democratic distribution of power and resources.
- ASEAN:
- India also envisages the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to be at the centre of the Indo-Pacific, both literally and substantively.
- India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway:
- It has the potential of creating a completely new axis of economic activity in Asia.
- China’s objection:
- According to him, any reservations to the activities of the four-nation bloc (QUAD) is possibly a “unilateralist opposition to collective and cooperative endeavours”.
- He also said the India-China relationship is going through an “extremely difficult phase”.
- Indo-Pacific:
Significance
- China factor:
- China has formally intimated its displeasure over the QUAD meetings.
- The narrative of the Quad as an anti-China tool (with a range of epithets, from “sea foam” to “Asian NATO”) promoted by China along with its belligerent tactics in the neighbourhood .
- Japan and India are closest to China, and both face belligerent Chinese claims to territory
- Not an alliance but a grouping:
- The U.S. says Quad is not an alliance but a grouping of countries driven by shared interests and values and interested in strengthening a rules-based order in the strategically-important Indo-Pacific region.
About QUAD
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Importance of QUAD for India
- Countering Chinese Influence:
- Recent stand-offs on the Indo-China Border and the 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 behavior.
- India’s SAGAR initiative:
- 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.
- Climate Change:
- The climate crisis calls for urgency in action.
- Quad nations are already driving their efforts toward climate ambition, including working on the 2030 targets for national emissions and renewable energy, clean-energy innovation, and deployment.
- The most commendable commitment is their focus on increasing the Indo-Pacific region’s resilience to climate change by improving critical climate information-sharing and disaster-resilient infrastructure.
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN):
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India–Myanmar–Thailand Trilateral Highway (IMT Highway)
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Source: TH
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