New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Saturday that the QUAD is a statement that others cannot have a "veto" on choices of like-minded nations and the coalition is here to stay, grow and contribute to global prosperity.
Jaishankar said that the achievements and activities of the QUAD naturally focus initially on addressing the region's most pressing needs and challenges. he was addressing the Raisina Dialogue Quad think tank forum in the national capital.
Highlighting as to why Quad has grown so rapidly, Jaishankar said, "All four governments have behaved differently than how they normally do. QUAD is an overhead light, creative, flexible, nimble, responsive, and open-minded enterprise, these are not adjectives we normally associate with a bureaucracy.
"The achievements and activities of the QUAD naturally focus initially on addressing the region's most pressing needs and challenges. I am speaking here about maritime security, infrastructure, connectivity and HADR, cyber security, and counter-terrorism", he pointed out.
He said QUAD has five messages, "It reflects the growth of a multipolar order. It is post-alliance and post-Cold War thinking. It is against spears of influence, it expresses the democratising of the global space and a collaborative, not unilateral approach and it is a statement that in this day and age, others cannot have a veto on our choices".
Jaishankar noted that the coming together of India, the US, Australia, and Japan as part of the Quad group serves to illustrate the growth of a multipolar order and advance post-Cold War thinking against 'spheres of influence.
Highlighting the significance of Quad grouping in Indo-Pacific at the session, the EAM said, "Now, this in turn would elicit the question, why the Indo-Pacific? And the answer, I think, by now is very clear. The post-1945 division of what till then was perceived to be a cohesive threat resulted in our contemplating the Indian Ocean and the Pacific as two separate entities. This separation was an outcome of American strategic priorities in 1945."
Invoking the Quad's history and events, he said they strengthened the grouping of four nations to discuss multi-faceted issues. "The origins of the Quad go back to the tsunami response. This was an event which happened in late December 2004. I happen to be the coordinator for that response on the Indian side. In 2006, the actual idea of a Quad was put forward by the then-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. But as I said earlier, it unravelled within a year, and in fact, Abe himself had left office at that time," Jaishankar added.
"In 2017, after a full decade, Quad was resumed, first at the Foreign Secretary's level, and then was upgraded in 2019 to the ministerial one. Coincidentally, I happen to be occupying both positions at that particular juncture. In 2021, we, all four of us, upgraded it to the summit level and it has flourished since. And it's been my privilege to have participated in all the meetings that have taken place since then," he added.
The common refrain at the session was that the grouping should be in the interest of all countries in the region amid concerns about the Quad being an exclusive partnership between the four members. This session will also feature discussions on the state of recent efforts to expand the grouping's outreach to other like-minded countries, he remarked.
US Deputy Secretary of State, Kurt M. Campbell, addressed the session on behalf of Secretary of State Antony Blinken, saying, "The strength of the Quad is its ability to harness the resources and capabilities of our four nations (US, India, Australia, Japan) to deliver concrete outcomes that benefit us all. In 2024, it has enabled us to promote that common good for the people across the Indo-Pacific."
Australian FM Penny Wong, who addressed the session virtually, shed light on the positive impact of Quad in the Indo-Pacific, saying, "We have maintained strong momentum in offering but never imposing transparent valued public goods. that responded to priorities." Raisina Dialogue is India's flagship conference on geopolitics and geoeconomics, committed to addressing the most challenging issues facing the global community. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was the chief guest and keynote speaker at the ongoing 9th Raisina Dialogue.
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