Quad talks: Can 'Asian Nato' take on China in Indo-Pacific?

NEW DELHI: India, US, Australia and Japan are holding a security dialogue, known as Quad, in Tokyo on Tuesday with an aim to counter China's growing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region.


The foreign minister-level talks assume significance as all four nations have either border or trade-related conflicts with China and are looking to tighten security cooperation to check Beijing's growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region.


China, on the other hand, views "Quad" as a threat to its dominance in the region and says that the forum is an attempt by the US to create an Asian version of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) directly aimed at counterbalancing its interests.

In fact, Beijing's "concerns" were validated by US deputy secretary of state Stephen E Biegun, who recently suggested that the informal defence alignment between the four nations could be the beginning of a Nato-style alliance in Asia.

In his opening remarks at the meeting today, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said that advancing security and economic interests of all countries having legitimate and vital interests in the Indo-Pacific remained a key priority. Without naming China directly, Jaishankar said that India remained committed to a rules-based world order and respect for territorial integrity as well as sovereignty.

The US, however, took a more aggressive stance and called for increased cooperation among the four Quad members.

Secretary of state Mike Pompeo said that China's increasingly assertive actions across the region make it more critical than ever for four Indo-Pacific nations to cooperate to protect their partners and their people from Chinese "exploitation, corruption and coercion."

But can a full-fledged military alliance in Asia take on an expansionist China?


After the US, China is the second-largest military spender in the world with a budget of roughly $261 billion in 2020, according to figures from SIPRI Military Expenditure Database.

Over the recent years, China has embarked on a massive modernisation drive which includes rapid development of aircraft carriers, stealth aircraft and modern naval frigates.

And while regional players like India, Japan and Australia are hiking their own defence budgets to balance the equation, China's military spending far outweighs that of all its neighbours.


With US in the Quad equation and increasing military cooperation, the Indo-Pacific nations would hope to counter China’s ability to expand its presence in the region.

A formal Nato-like alliance, with an eye firmly on China's ambitions, will also help the nations exert influence on waterways, from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific.


Mike Green, an Asia expert at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that Quad meeting would serve as a warning to China and play to its fears that it might one day grow into a formalised grouping such as Nato which was formed to contain the Soviet Union.

(With inputs from agencies)

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