Quad talks should covergeo-economic security

Context: While it’s vital for this fellowship of democracies (Quad) to counter the threat posed by China, it must expand its scope of cooperation to include emerging matters of mutual economic interest.

Need for QUAD:

• To resist the turning of the ‘Asian Century’ into a Chinese one: resulting in adverse geo-political and geo-economic implications for Asian countries in particular and the world in general.
• As a result of concerning Chinese actions:
  • Deployed a substantial portion of its battle-ready forces in the region,
  • Got US military installations within range of its missiles,
  • Rescinded Hong Kong’s autonomy
  • Aims to integrate Taiwan with itself.
  • Against India: aggression at Himalayan heights and Beijing’s ‘String of pearls’ game of encirclement.
  • Technological prowess: to bridge the technical edge the USA has over China; China eyes Taiwan, a chip producer so large that its capture could tilt the global balance of access.

Importance of the Quad (an informal grouping of India, Japan, Australia and the US)

• Joint naval exercises: held last year in October to send a clear signal to China about their readiness to combine forces in mutual interest.
• Could result in defence-equipment interoperability and shared resources: for example, Intelligence sharing could stave off cyber-attacks.

Way forward:

• India should secure its own chip supply: Indian interests on this converge with those of other Quad members.
• Promote India as a global manufacturing hub: on which democracies can rely on. Quad could consider India’s potential as a chip fabrication centre.