India has China rattled as warning shot fired at QUAD alliance

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The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD) between Australia, India, Japan, and the United States is focused on a free and open Indo-Pacific. But Chinese Foreign minister Le Yucheng has slammed the group. He compared it to the bloc-based division of NATO in Europe.

WION’s Hem Saroya said: “For India, the stakes are even higher. It’s the only QUAD nation that shares a border with China.

“It is the only QUAD nation that has been in direct conflict with China.

“India has the most to gain and the most to lose from the QUAD.

“The US has said India is central to the US Indo-Pacific strategy.

“The US views India’s emergence on the global stage as a counter to China.

“Both of the countries have a lot at stake in the region.”

It comes as US President Joe Biden has said only India among the QUAD group of countries was “somewhat shaky” in acting against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, as India tries to balance its ties with Russia and the West.

While the other Quad countries have sanctioned Russian entities or people, India has not imposed sanctions on its biggest supplier of military hardware.

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India has urged an end to the violence in Ukraine but has not condemned its old Cold War ally for the invasion.

“In response to his aggression, we have presented a united front throughout the NATO and in the Pacific,” Biden told a business forum on Monday, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“The Quad – with the possible exception of India being somewhat shaky on some of these – but Japan has been extremely strong, so is Australia in terms of dealing with Putin’s aggression.”

Putin says Russia is carrying out “a special military operation” to stop the Ukrainian government from committing “genocide” – an accusation the West calls a baseless fabrication.

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After a virtual summit between the Australian and Indian prime ministers on Monday, India’s foreign ministry said Australia understood India’s position on Ukraine, which “reflected our own situation, our own considerations”.

Even though India has grown close to the United States in recent years, it still depends on Russia for a continuous supply of arms and ammunition amid a Himalayan border standoff with China and perennial tension with Pakistan.

India is also considering buying more Russian oil at a discount, with two Indian state companies recently ordering 5 million barrels. Indian analysts and government officials point out that European countries are buying fuel from Russia, while publicly criticising Moscow.

Victoria Nuland, a US Under Secretary of State who met India’s foreign secretary on Monday, told Indian broadcaster NDTV that the United States had not asked partners like India to suddenly stop energy purchases from Russia.

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