India forging key ties, with an eye on China

While a lot of attention has been focused on the response of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or Quad – which brings together India, Australia, Japan and the US – to China’s actions, India has been quietly working with other key players such as Japan and Indonesia to build on cooperation across the Indo-Pacific.

New Delhi: The standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) has spurred India’s efforts to forge greater cooperation on security issues, connectivity and trade with other countries that are equally concerned about China’s aggressive actions across the region.

From Left: Union minister S Jaishankar, Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, and China’s state councillor Wang Yi in Moscow.(Reuters)

While a lot of attention has been focused on the response of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or Quad – which brings together India, Australia, Japan and the US – to China’s actions, India has been quietly working with other key players such as Japan and Indonesia to build on cooperation across the Indo-Pacific.

On Thursday, India and Japan announced they had signed the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA), a pact for reciprocal provision of supplies and services between their defence forces with an eye on security across the Indo-Pacific.

The development is significant as India is only the sixth partner with which Japan has signed such an agreement, after Australia, Canada, France, the UK and the US, and in light of the Japanese Constitution’s commitment to pacifism.

Sameer Patil, fellow for international security studies at Gateway House, said it was significant that India now has concluded logistics support agreements with all the members of the Quad. India and Australia signed the Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA) in June during a virtual summit.

“This increases the scope for interoperability between the navies of all the members of the Quad, and basic standard operating procedures are in place, especially for them to operate in a region such as the Indian Ocean,” Patil said.

On the same day that the agreement with Japan was signed, India, Australia and France held their inaugural senior officials’ trilateral dialogue, with the focus again on convergences in the Indo-Pacific and enhanced cooperation in maritime issues. France thus became the first European power to formally partner with India on a mechanism focused on the Indo-Pacific.

Not many are aware that France has good reasons for this focus on the Indo-Pacific – the presence of 1.5 million French citizens on island territories, and its exclusive economic zone of more than 11 million sq km, the second largest in the world, with 93% or 9 million sq km m in the Indo-Pacific.

France has also been at the forefront of countries that have backed India in its current border standoff with China. French defence minister Florence Parly, who was in India on Thursday for the induction of the first batch of Rafale combat jets into the Indian Air Force, said in an interview that “no country can use the fait accompli policy” even as she pushed for disengagement and de-escalation along the LAC.

Parly also noted that the induction of the Rafale jets meant India “will have an edge over the entire region to defend itself and protect its people”.

In the pipeline are the maiden virtual meetings of the foreign and defence ministers of India, Australia and Indonesia. The meeting of the foreign ministers could happen within this month, and once again the focus will be working towards a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific.

As in the case of the trilateral dialogue between India, Australia and France, these upcoming meetings too will work toward increased cooperation through regional organisations such as the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) and the 22-member Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA).

Patil noted that external affairs minister S Jaishankar has pointed out that India’s foreign policy options will revolve round working with other countries that have similar interests.

“After the 9/11 attacks on the US, president George W Bush had talked about establishing a coalition of the willing instead of relying on other formal mechanisms and coalitions. We are in an era when such interest-based partnerships are a reality,” he said.