India is sparing no effort to garner maximum possible support in the world community to counter China. Apart from hectic diplomatic lobbying which is already going on in different countries, India has also become quite active in different groupings with the powerful nations that also want to teach Beijing a befitting lesson. As part of this, New Delhi is going to host a meeting of foreign ministers of the Quad, a grouping that includes India, Australia, Japan and the US.
Foreign ministers of these countries will sit together to give a fillip to this coalition of the four democratic countries. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will be hosting his counterparts from the United States, Japan and Australia. Sources say that the “Quad” was forged for strategic cooperation among these nations and to counter unwavering China.
With China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops refusing to deescalate obviously at the behest of the top leadership in Beijing, New Delhi is keen to use all such groupings to counter the Dragon effectively. Individual diplomatic meetings with Chinese officials and military level talks in the past several weeks have not yielded any positive results. Therefore, India’s strategy is to mobilise support of the nations through different groupings like this. India is already planning to enter into a separate grouping with Indonesia and Australia with the main objective to counter China.
“External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is likely to host his counterparts from the United States, Japan and Australia in New Delhi,” an official told The Daily Guardian. The date for the meeting is being finalised, and the MEA’s effort is that all these foreign ministers sit together at the earliest possible opportunity in view of the growing unfair activities by China.
Sources said that Indian Ambassador in the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu has recently had a meeting with US Deputy Secretary of State, Stephen Beigun regarding the upcoming “Quad” foreign ministers’ meet. Sources said that details related to this interaction were discussed between the two. Since the issue of China’s aggression will be the focus of the meeting, foreign ministers are going to meet in person. “No meeting through web or online interaction will be there,” said a source.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who has been attacking China recently, is said to be keen to attend this interaction. Similarly, Australian foreign minister Marise Payne is also eager to attend the meeting. Australia’s strained ties with China are known to the entire world. Australia is highly averse to Chinese growing unruly behaviour in the South China Sea. Sources say Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi is likely to come to New Delhi for the meeting. But if some other leader replaces him following the appointment of the successor of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who resigned recently, then the new foreign minister will be representing Japan in the “Quad” meet.
Sources say, in fact, all the ministers are keen to meet in person, but a review of the Covid-19 will be done before fixing the date. However, all the foreign ministers are against holding virtual meeting, given the sensitivity of the issues to be discussed.
US National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien is also expected to hold discussions with Indian diplomats and top security officials ahead of the “Quad” meeting. He is expected to provide some crucial inputs for the meeting, sources said.