India should work to align Quad for Indo-Pacific bond

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar was in Thailand last week, where he delivered a detailed lecture on India’s Indo-Pacific vision. India has been highlighting its Indo-Pacific vision in diplomatic circles at multilateral and plurilateral platforms. However, this was perhaps the first time a roadmap and way forward plan was outlined for students, academicians, and other relevant stakeholders.

Jaishankar delivered the lecture at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand. The Indo-Pacific region as defined by India spans from eastern shores of Africa to western shores of America. This region contributes nearly 60 per cent to global GDP and most of the trade takes place through the sea routes.

At the end of World War II, the US emerged as the primary provider of security umbrella for the nations dotting the Pacific Ocean and a watery borderline emerged between the otherwise connected Indian and Pacific Ocean. India too has in the past many decades focussed more on inland continental security due to its regional concerns (Pakistan, China) and has been less focussed on the maritime domain as an important area of strategic interest.

However, the aggressive stance of China in India’s backwaters (Indian Ocean), its aggressive tactics in the South China Sea, its non-transparent binding financial support for infrastructure development in smaller nations, thereby threatening their sovereignty and a deterioration of relationship with the US has forced India to aggressively launch a multi-pronged engagement in the Indo-Pacific region.

Jaishankar highlighted that India’s Indo-Pacific vision builds heavily on the stated foreign policy direction ‘Act East Policy’. India has been vouching for security and growth for all in the region (SAGAR) and envisages a “free, open, inclusive, peaceful, and prosperous Indo-Pacific region”.

This highlights the key priority areas for India’s engagement with and beyond the region amid an aggressive China. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019 announced Indo-Pacific Ocean’s initiative during the East Asia Summit and outlined seven pillars of cooperation between the member countries, focused towards a safe, secure, open maritime region.

The East Asia summit (EAS) is an annual forum at a leadership level summit for 18 countries from East, Southeast and South Asia. The EAS is an important forum for dialogue for the Indo-Pacific region as it places ASEAN at its focal point of leadership and member nations, including the US, Japan, China, Australia, Russia, and India gets a platform for articulating their priorities for the region.

In India’s vision of the Indo-Pacific, it envisages EAS members to pick on the seven pillars, and many like Australia, France, Singapore, and the UK have announced their willingness to lead the verticals.

At the plurilateral level, India has in May 2022 joined as the founding partner of the US-led Indo Pacific Economic framework (IPEF). This regional arrangement primarily aims to contain China’s military economic influence in the Indo Pacific region. The four pillars of cooperation amongst the 14 member IPEF rests on trade, clean energy, supply chains and tax and anti-corruption.

While details regarding the IPEF, a basic text for agreement and negotiation between the members, are still some time away, India could use its relationship with the US to bring the forum and the EAS vision for the Indo Pacific region closer. It might be argued that given China and Russia's presence in the EAS, alignment between the IPEF and the EAS might be impossible, but it can still be worth a try.

The Quad should be propped up judiciously towards furthering India’s Indo-Pacific strategy. It can assume a key role in the Indo-Pacific strategy.

(The author is a foreign affairs commentator.)