November 2017; the Philippines hosted ASEAN Summit.
The officials from four nations India, US, Australia and Japan met at Manila and exchanged views on addressing common challenges of terrorism and proliferation linkages impacting the region as well as on enhancing connectivity.
The Indian side highlighted India’s Act East Policy as the cornerstone of its engagement in the Indo-Pacific region.
The QUAD leadership agreed that a free, open, prosperous and inclusive Indo-Pacific region serves the long-term interests of all countries in the region and of the world at large.
The officials also exchanged views on addressing common challenges of terrorism and proliferation linkages impacting the region as well as on enhancing connectivity.
The coming together of the four countries - the United States, Japan, India and Australia and to offer as alternative option is seen as an articulation of a strategy to counter China's growing influence in the region and across the world.
The boost to the new strategic and economic block was seen as the Trump administration's determined bid to counter China's growing influence.
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| Blogger in Manila : 2017 ASEAN Summit |
The American administration has been favouring a larger role for India in the strategically key Indo-Pacific region. President Trump also those days used to be all praise for India as a sovereign democracy. In fact, the Trump-Modi equation and Indo-US ties were soon emerging as problem areas for Chinese leadership.
Beijing always loved to demonstrate that it has a determined and decisive leadership.
The Chinese establishment certainly had reasons to feel bad about growing bonhomie between India, the US, Japan and Australia.
Giving this QUAD a further push, the Modi government enhanced defence cooperation and participated in the Malabar naval exercise that had till 2020 included just Japan and the U.S. Australia also took interest later.
Making a clear forward movement in November 2017 at Philippines capital Manila, India, the US, Japan and Australia had joined hands to enhance security cooperation in the Indo Pacific region and thus sought to build up fresh pressure on China.
The move certainly gave a 'clearer shape' to a new Security Architecture especially in the blue waters and in a region where China has been flexing muscles.
Within a year of his taking charge (in 2012), the Chinese government under Xi Jinping in 2013 articulated that on the internal front, it has pledged to and hopes to "promote, through our diplomacy," the Chinese culture, contribute Chinese wisdom to the handling of international relations, share China's governance experience and offer Chinese solutions to improve global governance.
The diplomacy of 'New China' had traversed an extraordinary journey over the past few years.
In the new era, China stayed committed to its independent foreign policy and firmly safeguard national independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity in its diplomacy.
"We will decide on our own policies and positions on the merit of an issue without being attached or submissive to any external force. We regard this as the spirit and strength of China's diplomacy", Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had said at the Second World Peace Forum, June 27, 2013.
With 1971 war ammo, Indian Army fires back at US over Russian oil hypocrisy
The Indian Army highlighted historic US arms supplies to Pakistan during the 1971 war amid tensions over Trump's warning on Indian imports of Russian oil.
This move underscores growing diplomatic friction as India pushes back against perceived double standards in US trade policies.
The Army’s Eastern Command shared a newspaper clipping dated August 5, 1971, detailing US weapons supplies to Pakistan in the lead-up to the war. The post was captioned, "This day, that year build up of war - August 5, 1971." The headline of the clipping read, "US arms worth $2 billion shipped to Pakistan since ’54."
This news item being shared by Defence establishment has a significance of their own as tension has mounted over US President Donald Trump’s warning against India’s imports of Russian oil.
The American military aid to Pakistan during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War was a gory episode of bitterness in ties between Washington and New Delhi.
ends
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