A day after China called Quad a tool for containing and besieging Beijing to maintain US hegemony, India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that the actions and stance of the alliance members are very clear and criticising it repeatedly won’t make the grouping less credible.
Calling India-China tension an issue of a legitimate concern for the entire international community the EAM said that the situation has arisen due to China’s disregard for written agreements it made with India in 2020 by agreeing not to mass forces at the LAC.
He further said that a discussion on India-China relations took place during the Quad meeting and that he briefed his counterparts about what was happening in the neighbourhood.
“It’s an issue in which a lot of countries legitimately take an interest, particularly if they are from the Indo-Pacific region,” the EAM said.
Jaishankar also said that Quad would continue to work towards rule-based international order, freedom of navigation in international waters, promoting connectivity, growth and security for all while respecting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of all states.
“We also shared concerns about terrorism and extremism. We have serious concerns about continuing cross border terrorism and it is our shared endeavour to deepen counter-terrorism cooperation including in the multilateral fora,” he added.
During the meeting, the member nations also discussed briefly the progress in defence and security cooperation which reflected their growing strategic convergence with the EAM saying that the inaugural cyber framework dialogue was useful in reviewing joint activities under the framework agreement.
Jaishankar’s statements on the India-China crisis came after China’s Foreign Ministry on Friday said that Cold War is long over and any attempt to forge a so-called alliance to contain China will not generate any support.
Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, further said that relevant countries should abandon the antiquated Cold War mentality, correct the wrong approach of bloc confrontation and geopolitical games, and contribute to peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific.
