"We all know what kind of system the quad is. China opposes the efforts of some countries to create a separate blog, presenting China as a challenge, creating discord between the countries of the region and China." This remark was made by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying in a press conference on 12 May. In response to another question, Chunying said, "As far as the Quad is concerned, I think India knows the intent of this mechanism better than us. Is it not intended to set up a small group against China?" "
Just a few days ago, China's Ambassador to Dhaka, Li Ziming, warned Bangladesh against joining the US-led Quad alliance, saying that the two countries' bilateral ties were "due to Dhaka's involvement in the anti-Beijing" club ". Would be quite a waste ".
In a virtual meeting organized on behalf of the Diplomatic Correspondents Association of Bangladesh, Lee said, "Obviously, it would not be good for Bangladesh to participate in this small club (quad) of four countries as it would greatly harm our bilateral relations." Describing the Chinese ambassador's remarks as "very unfortunate" and "offensive", Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr. AK Abdul Momen had said, "We are an independent and sovereign state. We decide our foreign policy ourselves."
The word quad is derived from the quadrilateral (quadrilateral) of the "quadrilateral safety dialogue". The group includes the US, Japan and Australia along with India. The formation of a group like the Quad was first followed by the 2004 tsunami when India made rescue and relief efforts for itself and other affected neighbors and included the US, Australia and Japan.
But this idea is credited to former Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe. Between 2006 and 2007 Abe managed to lay the foundation of the quad and the first informal meeting of the quadrilateral security talks was held in Manila in August 2007 at the level of senior officials.
In the same year, four countries of the Quad and Singapore took part in a naval exercise in the Bay of Bengal called Malabar. China reacted sharply to all this and asked the Quad countries to tell if the Quad is an anti-Beijing coalition? The Quad suffered a setback when Australia broke away from it after some time. Ten years later, in 2017, during the ASEAN summit in Manila, the quad came back into existence with the 'India-Australia-Japan-US' dialogue.
The meeting was held between senior officials of these countries a few hours before Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the US President Donald Trump arrived in Manila. This dialogue was also important from the point of view that at that time there was a deadlock between India and China in Doklam. After gaining momentum in 2017, the Quad's foreign minister met in Tokyo in October 2020, and the US hosted the Quad's virtual summit just weeks after Joe Biden became US President in March this year.
China has been considering the Quad as a group of four opposing countries since the beginning. He feels that these four countries of the Quad are colluding against his growing strength. The Quad countries have not made any public statements about the military sector, but it is believed that it is a major priority of these countries to curb China's growing influence in the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean.
Defense expert C Uday Bhaskar is a retired Commodore of the Indian Navy. He is currently the director of the Delhi-based Society for Policy Studies. According to him, China is very worried about the quad group. He says, "Last year China has tried to degrade it. One of their ministers said that the quad is like foam on sea water that will blow through the wind. The Quad is a big challenge for China in the Indo-Pacific region. Maybe, that's why China is very concerned about the quad's ability. "
Bhaskar also believes that the warning given to the Sheikh Hasina government by the Chinese ambassador in Dhaka a few days ago was "strange" because there was no initiative from Bangladesh to join the Quad or have any relationship with it. It makes sense that China is very concerned about the quad ".
He also says that "China has been showing its dominance in the sea area in the South China Sea and in the East Sea". According to him, because of this domination, where the countries of ASEAN have been affected in the South China Sea, Japan in the East Sea.
They say, "China seems to be increasing its claims in both regions. The Nine Dash Line and artificial installations have been made in the South China Sea and have made various territorial claims. In view of all this, Japan, India, Australia and the United States have said that there should be a rule-based system in the maritime sector." In November last year, the Indian Navy conducted a multilateral exercise 'Malabar' in the Indian Ocean. The US Navy, Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force and the Royal Australian Navy participated in the exercise. This maneuver of the quad countries was seen as a message to China.
According to Commodore Bhaskar, apart from the maritime sector, there should be an attempt to create a rule-based system in the cyber and space sectors with China. He says, "To bring China into a rule-based system, democratic countries can move forward for principles by forming their own faction."
They also believe that if these four countries are making a consensus then "it is not against China but to create a rule-based system". He says, "The Quad is advancing non-military issues in which it has been talked about cooperating with each other during the Covid epidemic and helping the needy countries."
Last year, when India was facing the first wave of corona epidemic like the whole world, there were reports of infiltration of several border areas of Ladakh region from China. Within a few months, it became clear that the Chinese army had occupied hundreds of square kilometers of the border with India and had set up armed hideouts. Due to this, there were clashes between the soldiers of both the countries.
Uday Bhaskar says that what happened in Ladakh does not have such a direct relation with the Quad. He says, "It is a misconception to think that if India exerts full pressure on the Indian Ocean's maritime region, then China's activities in Ladakh will make a difference. I don't think there is such a direct connection."
But Commodore Bhaskar definitely believes that the activities of the quad have increased after the arrival of Joe Biden. He says, "India still says that the quad is not anti-China. Consensus is being made for the principles in the quad, then those who understand it will understand that there is another aspect of it. India has the power in the maritime sector. The reason is that he must walk with other countries. "
China and its media have been calling the Quad as Asian Neto from time to time. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who visited India in April, indicated that Russia was aware of speculation that the Quad was turning into Asia's NATO. Russia also asked India to stay away from any move by the US to convert the Quad into a military alliance like NATO to control China in the Indo-Pacific region.
India's Foreign Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar said at the time that he had shared India's vision of the Indo-Pacific region with the Russian Foreign Minister, and also told countries that in new and different ways to meet contemporary challenges Need to work together.
According to Uday Bhaskar, in today's time it is not possible to form an alliance like Neto against China. He says, "The strategic structure and context of the world was completely different when NATO was created. The Cold War involved Western and European countries led by the US on the one hand and the former Soviet Union and their allies on the other. The biggest thing It was that there was no trade between the two sides – the US and the Soviet Union. "
Bhaskar says that the situation has changed today. He says, "Due to globalization, the interdependence of economic and trade has increased immensely. Because of this, all the countries of the Quad, whether it is America or India or Japan or Australia, their trade and investment with China. It is mutual. So if the quad is to be made like NATO, then it will have to remove the dependency of the business, which does not appear to be happening in the near future. "
While the countries involved in the quad have expressed their commitment to work together on vaccine partnerships, climate change and new technologies, there have been some contradictions in this group from time to time. In an unforeseen development in April, US shipwreck John Paul Jones claimed his shipping rights and independence in India's exclusive economic zone about 130 nautical miles west of the Lakshadweep group, an action sought without permission from India.
In an official statement, the US Navy's Seventh Fleet stated that "this Freedom of Navigation operation upheld the rights, freedoms, and legitimate uses of the sea recognized in international law by challenging India's excessive maritime claims." Despite being part of a group like the Quad, what does the US talk with India in this language? Uday Bhaskar admits that there is "a slight contradiction in it".
He says, "The way America said about the Maldives and India, it felt like a little knot, but if you look at it in a larger perspective, I would say that the way America has made its map under the leadership of Biden. According to the quad, it is still in the limelight, it has not yet caught its raga.
Like and Follow us on :
