Published 20:49 IST, September 3rd 2020
MEA says India to host Quad later this year as tensions simmer at LAC with China
India is ready to host a meeting of the Quad — an informal security dialogue involving India, US, Australia, and Japan — later this year, said MEA
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India is ready to host a meeting of the Quad — an informal security dialogue involving India, US, Australia, and Japan — later this year and details are being worked out, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday.
When asked about the progress on the much-awaited meeting, MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said, "Yes, we look forward to holding Quadrilateral Group Ministerial meeting later this year. The details being worked out," without elaborating further.
This comes days after a senior American official said that a Quad ministerial meet is being planned in New Delhi which will most likely be held in person. Speaking at the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum, US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun said, "There’s going to be a meeting of the Quad, a ministerial meeting with the Quad in Delhi – that’s the intention anyway – in person."
In July, US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, had said that the Quad "has been reinvigorated" in a statement to the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He had listed out a string of accomplishments America had on the China front and highlighted steps taken by other countries to counter Beijing's bellicose attitude.
"Japan led the G7’s condemnation of China’s national security law targeting Hong Kong. The EU condemned the law too, and also declared China a “systemic rival” just last year... Our Quad – the United States, Australia, India, and Japan – has been reinvigorated," Pompeo told US lawmakers.
Quad's renewed bout
India's latest overture towards a more formalised Quad comes on the heels of escalated tensions at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China as its People's Liberation Army (PLA) tries to unsuccessfully intrude and occupy India positions. The Indian Army has thwarted all such attempts and has strengthened its position along the 3,488-km LAC, much to PLA's displeasure.
America has applauded New Delhi many times for standing up to Beijing its renewed interest to fire up the Quad. Indian, US, and Japanese navies are scheduled to hold their annual 'Malabar' exercises later this year and India is expected to finally invite Australia to join. The Quad has been seen as a credible and potent deterrent to China's increasingly aggressive posture on geopolitical and economic affairs.
Last year, the Quad foreign ministers met on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New Yeat, which was the first such meet of the grouping. Notably, Quad is viewed with suspicion by China as a grouping that is anti-Bejing. Which is why New Delhi has long tried to downplay the Quad as any concrete alliance to avoid antagonising in its northern neighbour.
(AP Photo)
20:49 IST, September 3rd 2020