The United States, India, Australia, and Japan are in conversation to decide the location and date of the QUAD security dialogue next month, which will be followed by the 2-plus-2 dialogue between India and the United States here. As of now, Japan is an option for QUAD dialogue or both QUAD dialogue and 2 plus 2 could be held consecutively in New Delhi at the end of next month.
The QUAD dialogue is an informal link between democratic countries that share military logistical support, interoperability through exercises and information, and are committed to keeping the Indo-Pacific maritime communication lanes free of artificial constructions and constraints. The QUAD dialogue will take place in person between the Secretary of State of the United States, Mike Pompeo, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of India, S Jaishankar, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Toshimitsu Motegi, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Australia, Marise Payne. The ministers are guided by the leadership of the four countries that share a personal relationship and global visions for peace. The delay in date and venue is due to the change of government in Japan with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga replacing the ailing Shinzo Abe.
For the two-plus-two dialogue, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh will join US Defense Secretary Mark Esper in New Delhi.
Although the QUAD is not targeting any particular country, the informal group is closely watching the rise of the wolf warriors in communist China and their impact on the security of the Indo-Pacific and the Indian Ocean with Beijing opening fronts against all four. QUAD members — from land disputes to exports to data mining. QUAD’s rise is a direct consequence of China reclaiming the entire South China Sea through an artificial nine-dash line that has been rejected by the global body’s tribunal.
QUAD is expected to further strengthen as India has a 2 plus 2 dialogue with the US and Japan at the ministerial level and with Australia at the foreign secretary level. The four nations hold military exercises over and over again and the chances of QUAD navies participating under the Malabar exercise rubric are very high, although the decision has yet to be made.
The QUAD will be followed by the two plus two in Delhi, with the US and India to sign the long-pending basic cooperation and basic exchange agreement to share geospatial data. While the US is ready to supply India with top-of-the-line military hardware, including armed drones, the latter has been left to figure out what it needs to deal with a rising global power alongside.
Given the fact that the People’s Liberation Army is delaying its feet in the total disconnection of the Ladakh sector, it is quite obvious that the Chinese aggression in the western sector in May 2020 will be a hot topic of discussion for both the QUAD dialogue and for 2 plus 2.
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