External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to visit Japan, Hold QUAD meeting

The External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is to visit Japan on October 6, and October 7, 2020. During the visit, the minister will hold talks with his Japanese counterpart and also will attend a ministerial meeting of Quadrilateral Coalition.

Highlights

Under the ministerial meeting of Quadrilateral Coalition, the minister will meet the ministers of the QUAD members such as Japan, USA and Australia. The ministers will discuss on regional issued and the importance of open and inclusive Indo-Pacific. The meetings are to be held in Tokyo, the capital city of Japan.

Quadrilateral Coalition

It is viewed as the Asian NATO. It is an informal strategic forum between Japan, USA, India and Australia. It holds semi-regular summits. It was initiated by the then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan in 2007. It was paralleled by joint military exercises.

Today, Exercise Malabar is considered as a joint exercise of QUAD. The grouping is widely viewed as a response to increased Chinese economic and military power.

Significance

All the four member countries of the grouping aim on free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific Region. The grouping tackles common challenges such as proliferation and terrorism. The members cooperate to curtail nuclear and missile programmes of North Korea.

Significance for India

The grouping gives India a powerful platform to boost its Act East Initiative. The grouping will increase geostrategic terms of India with the QUAD countries sharing the burden in defence. It will provide an opportunity for India to work with its allies in shaping US policies in Pakistan-Afghanistan to the benefit of India.

Need for QUAD

China’s aggressive steps along the borders of its neighbours such as India and Bhutan has forced QUAD to evolve countering Chinese moves. Concerns are being raised regarding Freedom of Trade and navigation in the waters of East seas and South China sea.

Month: Current Affairs - September, 2020