Putin-Jinping bonhomie at Beijing Olympics, suggests shift from QUAD to AUKUS, says expert

Talking to ETV Bharat's Saurabh Sharma, Swaran Singh, professor for diplomacy and disarmament at the Centre for International Politics, Organization, and Disarmament (CIPOD), School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, said that “it displays a sudden shift from QUAD to AUKUS. While in the beginning, both China and Russia were against the QUAD, after the entry of AUKUS, which is mainly a security/military alliance in the Asia Pacific, the military alliance led by the US became a common enemy of both Russia and China.”

New Delhi:In what is being seen as a clear-cut manifestation of unity, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin have met in Beijing, after nearly two years. This meeting is critical since many of the countries have diplomatically boycotted the Beijing Winter Olympics including India for politicizing the Games and for its notorious human rights violations against the people of Xinjiang.

During this visit on Friday, Russian President Putin hailed Moscow’s unprecedented ties with Beijing at a time when Russia faces the flak of the West for its actions ‘in and around Ukraine’. In a joint statement, the two leaders expressed their immense support for each other’s foreign policy whereas Russia expressed its keen support to Beijing for its One-China Policy over Taiwan and also agreed on wider security issues. Both sides also expressed their concerns over the AUKUS defense alliance which includes Australia, the UK, and the United States.

From New Delhi’s perspective, the mentioning of AUKUS and not that of QUAD might raise a few questions about the relevance of QUAD if compared to AUKUS. While India’s Foreign Policy has never supported or aided any military alliance, the mere absence of QUAD might raise some eyebrows in New Delhi’s circles.

Commenting on the development, Swaran Singh, a professor for diplomacy and disarmament at the Centre for International Politics, Organization, and Disarmament (CIPOD), School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, said that “it displays a sudden shift from QUAD to AUKUS. While in the beginning, both China and Russia were against the QUAD, after the entry of AUKUS, which is mainly a security/military alliance in the Asia Pacific, the military alliance led by the US became a common enemy of both Russia and China.”

To add more to this, Prof Singh said that now there’s even a discussion of AUKUS Plus which is likely to include South Korea and Japan into the ambit of AUKUS which could further create more problems for China and even Russia and their relationship with the US.

When asked whether there could be a possibility that the absentation of New Delhi at the UNSC over Ukraine might have propelled Russia to not raise the issue of QUAD or a word about India in this joint statement, Prof Singh replied that "yes, there could be a possibility."

The mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Global Times, in a story published the joint statement of both sides which said, “a small number of forces in the international community continue stubbornly to promote unilateralism, adopt power politics, interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, undermine other countries’ legitimate rights and interests, create frictions and confrontations and hamper the development and progress of mankind. The international community will not accept this.”

Criticizing the US for its actions over Ukraine and for revitalizing a ‘cold-war mentality, the statement adds that both China and Russia oppose any form of further enlargement of NATO and “call on the bloc to abandon its ideologized cold war approaches and respect the sovereignty, security, and interests of other countries.”

Following the deployment of more than 100,000 Russian troops around the Ukrainian and Belarus border, the West led by the US and the military alliance NATO has been consistently holding top diplomatic-level meetings involving the sides of the US, EU, NATO, and Russia. While the West blames Moscow for its aggressive actions, Russia blames the West for its expansion into the ex-soviet states which for Moscow is a security threat.

The row over Ukraine has added fuel to the already burning fire between US-China and now China has become more vocal in backing Russia in its dispute with NATO powers over Ukraine.