In a bid to primarily contain the advances of China in the Indo-Pacific, Quadrilateral Security Dialogue—also known as QUAD—came into being way back in 2007 and then turned inactive in the subsequent year, however, with growing Chinese interferences, its revival was carried out Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as well as PM Narendra Modi. Initially, the alliance was formed for collaborating on disaster relief efforts after a giant Tsunami hit the Indian Ocean, but Japan, later, to counter the Chinese influence formally started Quadrilateral Security Dialogue.
While the alliance constitutes the US, Australia, India and Japan, the QUAD leaders cannot think of having a successful alliance without India, because it is a major power in Asia and to counter the dragon diplomatically or militarily, India’s role and contribution in the QUAD will always remain irreplaceable eve as the primary and the larger objectives of the QUAD remains the initiative for strategic and significant sea routes in the Indo-Pacific region to be free from any influence with a prime focus on the influence of China.
While it is eyeing that, the QUAD is also aiming to secure a rules-based global order, a liberal trading system, and freedom of navigation throughout the Indo-Pacific which it cannot achieve without the active participation of India which has been pitching for these guarantees. No matter there are other major objectives too, the basics of QUAD are for countering China’s aggressive and coercive nature which has always remained a concern not only for India but for the US as well even as it has been pestering Japan with its continuous activities in the South China Sea.
The QUAD has been quite irritating China with Beijing referring to the alliance as Asia’s NATO as major powers of Indo-Pacific came together to secure their interests against China. The analogy is quite apt as what China is to Asia or Indo-Pacific is what Russia is to the West and the NATO in Europe. Containing their advances—China as well as Russia—and confining them has been the prime motive of NATO as well as the QUAD.
In all this, it trickles down to the role and significance of India not only in QUAD but also in the overall global security as has come to the fore as Russia invades Ukraine. The global situation should project the importance of India in the QUAD and at the same time, the importance of QUAD for India as China has not been so far backed down post-Eastern Ladakh stand-off and lays claims on several other spots on the India territory. Now, protecting the sea, after the land has got the entire focus, and for that India is the key and needs to be kept tight in the QUAD if the world wants a stable Indo-Pacific region, as the other side faces tumult.
