‘Quad not Beatles band, but a lighthouse’; China must toe rules-based order
By Our Special Correspondent
New Delhi, March 3: A day after Russia and China derailed the Foreign Ministers Meeting of the G20, Quad made a forceful reiteration of the stated objective to work for a rules-based order against China dictating terms by flexing muscles in the South China Sea and across the Himalayas was stated by the foreign ministers of the four members of the grouping at the Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi.
India’s Foreign Minister S Jaishankar stated during the Round Table that many countries are keen to work with Quad. “We are collectively offering different choices for the region,” said Jaishankar. His assertion was seen aligned to the emerging views of ensuring the centrality of the Asean nations and force the rules-based maritime order in the region against China’s growing hegemony.
“Our proposition is to offer positive choices, by working together in practical areas with the countries of the region through a variety of frameworks. We are ensuring that we are fit for purpose for any challenges which are emerging or may emerge,” said Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of the State at the Raisina Dialogue.
Quad Summit in Tokyo had seen firming up of the purposes of the interests of the member nations, with the US taking lead in by offering an economic architecture through the Indo Pacific Economic Framework Partnership to counter the Belt and Road Initiative of China. The Quad Summit in Tokyo had also seen the member nations working with partners to ensure resilient and reliable global supply chains, which had been compromised by China’s ‘Zero Covid Policy’, which the strategic thinkers had attributed to Beijing using to achieve its strategic purposes at the cost of economic losses.
“Quad is not a Beatles band, playing together for 10 years. It’s a soft group or a band where each member has its own autonomy,” said Yoshimasa Hayashi, said the Japanese foreign minister. We need to abide by international norms and institutions, he said, adding that “we hope that China will abide by such norms”.
Penny Wong, the Australian foreign minister, said that the Quad is like a lighthouse. “It (Quad) is enabling choices through practical works,” said Wong. Jaishankar also stressed on technology collaborations among the member nations, besides convergence of purposes in counterterrorism efforts.
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