Joe Biden enlists 'Quad' allies to counter China | Financial Times - 0 views
www.ft.com/...7f-c362-4bd9-a9e9-7fd5944e5ea4
USA US military China diplomacy India Japan Australia navy maritime
shared by Ed Webb on 07 Mar 21
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President Joe Biden is poised to hold the first ever quadrilateral US summit with the leaders of Japan, India and Australia, as the four countries step up co-operation in an effort to counter China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific.The White House said Biden could hold the virtual meeting next week. Choosing a “Quadrilateral Security Dialogue” meeting for his first summit highlights his plan to reinvigorate the Quad as part of his China strategy.
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India in October invited Australia to join Malabar, a military exercise between the US, India and Japan — the first time the four navies had held joint exercises since 2007. The exercises came as Indian and Chinese troops were again locked in a tense military stand-off in Ladakh.
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Admiral Philip Davidson, head of US Indo-Pacific Command, this week said US-India military co-operation had “advanced markedly” and the potential for more co-operation was “the strategic opportunity” of the 21st century.
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In January, India also joined the other Quad members and Canada in Sea Dragon, an anti-submarine warfare exercise
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“They were . . . making the statement that their co-operation with the US and Japanese navies was a reminder to China that if you put pressure on the land borders, you better be prepared to meet us in the naval realm.”
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The Financial Times this week reported that the four countries were developing a strategy to engage in vaccine distribution diplomacy in the Indo-Pacific, as a form of soft power to counter China’s vaccine efforts.
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India publicly insists that the Quad is not aimed at China. Some Indians worry that the US is driving it into an alliance that India does not want.
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India can calibrate its co-operation since it was not a US treaty ally, like Australia and Japan. “India can set the pace . . . The more India gets positive, the more expansive the agenda on the security side can become.”