Quartet steps up security, top commanders meet in California | World News

senior military commander from quadruple room In a clear sign that the bloc is now taking security measures, member states, including India’s Defense Secretary (CDS), General Anil Chauhan, will hold a high-profile meeting on Indo-Pacific security in Sunnylands, California, from May 15-17 Taking cooperation to the next level ahead of the Quad summit in Sydney on May 24.

Other invitees to the meeting, chaired by Admiral John C. Aquilino, commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, included Gen. Yoshihide Yoshida, chief of staff of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces and Joint Staff, and Australian Defense Minister, Gen. Angus Campbell.

Given that Australia, the UK and the US have their own organization, Aukus, whose focus overlaps with the Quad (Quadruple Security Dialogue), a vice-admiral-level representative of the UK Defense Secretary may also be present. This is General Chauhan’s first visit to the United States.

Read also | ‘Quad has positive agenda for Indo-Pacific sovereignty’: Australian envoy to India

The Quad Malabar naval exercise is scheduled to take place off the coast of Sydney in August, and next week’s top meeting of the bloc’s military commanders is seen as a game-changer – Quad leaders have treaded cautiously on military cooperation until now – as well as a call to action. An effective response to the aggressive challenges posed by China in the Indo-Pacific region. Although Chinese President Xi Jinping said in September 2015 in front of then-U.S. President Barack Obama that Beijing had no intention of militarizing the disputed Spratly Islands, the PLA has done the opposite, militarizing the entire South China Sea, And the world awaits the Asian hub promised by the US.

“India became convinced after the PLA’s aggression in Eastern Ladakh in 2020 that China had no intention of resolving border issues bilaterally and putting pressure on India in the eastern region, especially the Siliguri Corridor. It was against this backdrop that India decided to resort to Multilateral platforms such as QUAD to curb rampant PLA aggression on land and in the Indo-Pacific.” Anonymous. China has been strangling India through the string of pearls, Indian Ocean seaports, and denial of access in the Pacific and Far Pacific including the South China Sea.

India, Japan and Australia have deepened defense cooperation by sharing US-made military platforms such as the P 8I anti-submarine aircraft, C 130 J Hercules, C-17 heavy transport aircraft and Chinook helicopters.

The 2013 Quad CDS-level dialogue in which Obama hosted Xi Jinping in Sunnylands promises to take things to the next level, and may show that India has completely moved away from the Cold War mentality and its residents’ skepticism of dealing with like-minded great powers other than strategic partner France. And the US, Japan and Australia.

Between 2017 and 2021, China dispatched no less than 53 surveillance and survey ships to the Indian Ocean (numbers since then are still being counted), and the number continues to climb. India faces serious challenges from the PLA Navy in the Indian Ocean region, especially with the Along with Beijing’s long-term plans to build a new port in Cambodia and make Hambantota a dual-use seaport, India is also reviewing Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar’s letter to the country’s prime minister titled “Difficult choice for Pakistan” The content of the leaked memo, by Shehbaz Sharif, advocates a “genuine strategic” partnership with China and avoids any hint of currying favor with the West (read America).

“National interests are paramount to the Narendra Modi government and the Quad is a platform for all like-minded democracies to join hands to tackle Indo-Pacific challenges without sacrificing India’s strategic autonomy. President Xi through the Belt and Road Initiative ( BRI) exerts influence over 148 countries, the speed of China’s economic and military development, and India has been forced by Beijing to join Japan and Australia in the same boat and seek help from the multilateral quartet,” said a former Indian diplomat on condition of anonymity. Minister.