New Delhi, Mar 16:
US envoy Eric Garcetti on Friday said the Quad is really a reflection of the “shared interests” of having a peaceful, democratic, just, open and accountable Indo-Pacific while underlining that its member country India is in many ways “in the driver’s seat” of the grouping.
In response to a question on whether an Indian national, facing charge for a murder-for-hire plot to kill a Khalistani separatist on American soil, will affect Indo-US ties, he said, “The pace of our relationship only continues to accelerate amidst this.”
“It’s the first stress test of our new relationship which has deepened, and so far, I think both countries are passing it, but plenty of miles to go. Life would be much easier for us not to have contested democracies, where people disagree. That is the point of a democracy that we have to defend,” the US envoy said.
“The relationship continues, I think with more strength than we have ever witnessed before. But, we won’t back away from principles that are important to this relationship,” he added.
The panel discussion on “A ‘Pacific’ Convergence of Interests with India” largely centred around the functioning of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue grouping, commonly described as Quad, during the India Today Conclave 2024.
The Quad comprises India, the US, Japan and Australia and it has unveiled a series of initiatives in the last few years with a broad aim to ensure peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region. China believes the coalition is aimed at containing it.
The US Ambassador to India shared the dais with British High Commissioner Alex Ellis, Australian High Commissioner Philip Green, and Nirupama Rao, former foreign secretary of India.
“We have always said the Quad isn’t a military alliance of four of us. We have strong bilateral relations, each aspect of the Quad, each country. They do work in strategic and military space, they do work in economic spaces, they do work in people-to-people and cultural and educational spaces,” he said.
“But, the Quad is really a reflection of values and of geography and the shared interests that we have to have a peaceful, democratic, just, open, accountable Indo-Pacific,” the US envoy asserted.
And that happens in so many ways with Quad, whether it is looking at ecological and climate issues, whether it is the emergency seen during the pandemic, when the grouping really “became a force for assisting each other,” he said.
“But, India is in many ways in the driver’s seat of the Quad. And, I think that is exciting for India,” he said.
The US envoy said he has described that India “loves geometric diplomacy” – triangles, squares, quadrilaterals.
“The multilaterals you can get last, in places like the UN right now, which are important, convenient spaces… But, they are just divided as the world. Bilateral is really helpful but there is a limit to bilateralism sometimes,” he said.
