Quad agenda makes it one of the most far-reaching intergovernmental frameworks: EAM Jaishankar

Last update:December 06, 2024, 8:12 p.m. IST

The Quad, comprising India, the United States, Australia and Japan, has focused on ensuring peace, stability and inclusive growth in the Indo-Pacific region.

EAM Jaishankar (Photo: X/S Jaishankar)

The Quad is growing and its agenda makes it one of the “most far-reaching” intergovernmental frameworks, and the new Donald Trump administration is unlikely to reduce its support for the coalition, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said on Friday .

In an interactive session at the India-Japan Forum here, Jaishankar recalled how Trump’s first term as US president supported the formation of the Quad and its subsequent growth.

The Quad, comprising India, the United States, Australia and Japan, has focused on ensuring peace, stability and inclusive growth in the Indo-Pacific region, in the context of China’s growing military power in the region.

“In 2017, it was the first year of the Trump administration where Quad started at the deputy minister level. Then in 2019, it was again under the Trump administration that he rose from the vice-minister level. minister to that of foreign minister level,” Jaishankar said.

“And we have every reason to expect that they will say that we got it right the first time, that it was done well and that we must therefore continue,” he added.

India is expected to host the next Quad Summit in 2025.

The Quad is growing and its agenda makes it “one of the most extensive types of intergovernmental coordination visible today,” Jaishankar said.

On India’s ties with China following the border conflict in eastern Ladakh, Jaishankar spoke about the implementation of the latest disengagement agreement and said challenges remain with regard to de-escalation on the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

“Our whole relationship with China was based on the fact that the border areas would remain peaceful and stable and we had agreements to guarantee that. In 2020, the Chinese chose to bring a lot of forces into the border areas and obviously we have responded with counter-deployments,” he said.

Talking about the completion of the disengagement process, the Foreign Minister said it took almost four and a half years.

“We still have challenges ahead. We still need to deescalate the situation because what we have done is disengage the forces that were nearby,” he said.

Jaishankar suggested that the focus now would be on de-escalation as a very large number of forces are still deployed in the region.

“Now we need to sit down and talk with China about how to rebuild our relationship and that is an exercise that still needs to be undertaken,” he said.

The military standoff in eastern Ladakh between India and China began in May 2020 and a deadly clash in Galwan Valley in June the same year led to serious strain in ties between the two neighbors.

The confrontation effectively ended after the disengagement process from the last two friction points of Demchok and Depsang was completed under an agreement finalized on October 21.

Two days after the deal was consolidated, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke on the sidelines of the Brics summit in the Russian city of Kazan.

During the meeting, the two sides agreed to restart several dialogue mechanisms, including the dialogue of special representatives on border issues.

India’s special representative for the dialogue is National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, while the Chinese side is led by Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

On India’s ties with Japan, Jaishankar highlighted the importance of the partnership between the two countries in the field of semiconductors.

“Japan is revitalizing its semiconductor sector and India, after a very long period of neglect, has also announced a mission in the semiconductor sector… A lot of things are happening,” he said.

“We are also both working with Taiwan. I see here the beginnings of something potentially important,” added the minister.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)