The Quad is growing and its agenda makes it the “most comprehensive” intergovernmental framework, and the incoming Donald Trump administration is unlikely to reduce support for the alliance, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Friday.
In an interactive session at the India-Japan Forum here, Jaishankar recalled how Trump’s first term as US President had supported the shape of the Quad and its subsequent growth.
The Quad, comprising India, the United States, Australia and Japan, is focused on ensuring peace, stability and inclusive growth in the Indo-Pacific against the backdrop of China’s increasing military muscle-flexing in the region.
“In 2017, it was the first year of the Trump administration when it (quad) started at the deputy minister level. Then in 2019, it was again under the Trump administration that it moved from the deputy minister level to the foreign minister level,” Jaishankar said.
“And we have every reason to hope that they think we got it the first time, it went well and so we should continue it,” he added.
India is scheduled to host the next Quad Summit in 2025.
The Quad continues to grow and its agenda makes it “one of the most comprehensive forms of intergovernmental coordination in evidence today”, Jaishankar said.
On India’s relationship with China after the eastern Ladakh border row, Jaishankar referred to the implementation of the recent disengagement arrangement and said challenges remain in terms of de-escalation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
“Our entire relationship with China was based on the fact that the border area would remain peaceful and stable and we had agreements to ensure that. In 2020, the Chinese chose to bring more troops to the border area and obviously we responded with a counter deployment,” he said.
Mentioning that the process of disconnection has been completed, the Foreign Minister said that it took almost four and a half years.
“We still have challenges ahead. We still have to de-escalate because what we have done is remove forces from proximity,” he said.
Jaishankar suggested that the focus would now be on de-escalation as a large number of troops were still deployed in the region.
He said, ‘Now we have to sit down with China and discuss how to rebuild our relationship and that exercise is yet to be done.
The East Ladakh military standoff between India and China began in May 2020 and a deadly skirmish in the Galwan Valley in June of the same year caused serious strain in relations between the two neighbors.
According to the agreement reached on October 21, the face-off was effectively ended after the completion of the disconnection process from the last two friction points of Demchok and Depsang.
Two days after the deal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in the Russian city of Kazan.
In the meeting, both sides agreed to revive various dialogue mechanisms, including talks by special representatives on the border dispute.
India’s special representative for the talks is National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, while the Chinese side is led by Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
On India’s relationship with Japan, Jaishankar highlighted the importance of partnership between the two countries in the field of semiconductors.
“Japan is reviving its semiconductor sector and India has announced a semiconductor mission after a long period of neglect… a lot is happening,” he said.
“We also both work with Taiwan. I see the beginning of something potentially important here,” the minister added.