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OpINION APRIL 01, 2022 | The Indian Eye 14

the statement, the Quad leaders had Quad members as to how far it would
convened “to reaffirm their commit- be prudent to drag the Quad in the
ment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, Ukrainian crisis. Furthermore, it is
in which the sovereignty and territo- likely to take US’ attention back to
rial integrity (emphasis added) of all the Euro-Atlantic theatre.
states is respected and countries are The Quad has established itself
free from military, economic, and as one of the foremost minilaterals in
political coercion”.8 The phrase “sov- the Indo-Pacific, dealing with a range
ereignty and territorial integrity” was of regional challenges. Its gamut
not used for the first time in the joint has been expanded to provide glob-
statement of the Quad. India’s Exter- al common goods by way of vaccine
nal Affairs Minister, Dr S. Jaishankar, distribution to face one of the worst
had used it as recently as during the health crises of the century. Although
opening remarks at the 4th Quad For- Quad’s plan has been growing to
eign Ministers’ Meeting in Melbourne tackle humanity’s new challenges, it
on 11 February 2022. It was also a part has negligible sway over the events in
of the Quad Foreign Ministers’ joint Ukraine. India has shown prudence
statement. However, the words got by agreeing to discuss the sensitive
associated with an insinuation that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar meets uS Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the issue of the Ukrainian crisis on the
the reference was in the context of sidelines of the 4th Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting (ANI) Quad platform. The Quad, in turn,
the Ukrainian crisis since New Delhi has released a joint statement accom-
had used the same phrase while ab- modating sensitivities of each of the
staining on Resolution on Ukraine in constituents. From the joint state-
the UN General Assembly. Since the ment, it seems probable that the re-
choice of words could be interpreted strained language of the readout vis-
in multiple ways, it can be read as an à-vis Russia was at the behest of India.
example of constructive ambiguity on Thus, Russia should take note of In-
India’s part. dia’s role as an independent player in
The second part of the statement the Quad who takes an independent
discussed the Ukrainian crisis, which view of the events.
was referred to as “the ongoing con- The joint readout demonstrates
flict” and not as an “invasion”, which that the Quad has come of age to de-
is how the US and its allies are calling velop a shared understanding of each
out Russian actions. The focus of the country’s positions in peculiar cases.
statement was on the humanitarian So far, the events suggest that there
crisis in Ukraine. It was decided to are differences among the Quad
“stand up a new humanitarian as- members, but they know how to get
sistance and disaster relief mecha- over them. However, if the bilateral
nism”, which would help Quad deal relationship between India and the
effectively with future crises in the US gets negatively impacted due to
Indo-Pacific. The mechanism would Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attends the recent virtual Quadrilateral Security a third country, it would cast a grim
also “provide a channel for communi- Dialogue (QuAD) in Tokyo (ANI) shadow over the future of the Quad.
cation as they (Quad countries) each Considering the importance of each
address and respond (emphasis add- pose of forging such a forum is to al- For example, Trade-Related As- of Quad’s members and the current
ed) to the crisis in Ukraine”. Thus, low members to have the freedom to pects of Intellectual Property Rights geopolitical situation in the world, the
the statement recognized that each exercise strategic autonomy. (TRIPS) waiver for COVID-19 vac- Quad is the need of the hour for the
country might address and respond Second, should India be looked at cines or the Myanmar crisis. In the Indo-Pacific. If far-flung events start
to the crisis distinctively. It offered as a weak link in the Quad? India has case of the Myanmar crisis, India and negatively impacting the functioning of
the much-needed space for individual always stood up for the principles en- Japan take a nuanced position dealing the Quad, it will pose serious questions
countries to choose according to their shrined in the UN Charter and abid- with the junta government while the to the longevity of the minilateral. But
national interests. ed by the international law not only remaining two countries of the Quad if Quad comes out unscathed, it has a
Though India has disapproved through words but also through deeds, respond to the crisis differently. A di- long way to go in the times to come.
the infringement of territorial integri- whether it is the peaceful resolution versity of views regarding the means
ty and sovereignty of a country, it has of the maritime dispute between In- is acceptable as far as there is conver- Niranjan Chandrashekhar Oak is a
used a different language to describe dia and Bangladesh according to the gence on the ends. India has always Research Analyst at Manohar Parrikar
Russian action individually or at the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the stood for the normative order. More- Institute for Defense Studies and Anal-
UN. The rest three countries are on Hague, judgement in 2014 or selling over, the Quad has clearly expressed yses (MP-IDSA), New Delhi.
exactly the opposite plane vis-à-vis the the BrahMos to the Philippines ac- its commitment to the principles of Views expressed are of the author and
Ukrainian crisis. This leads to a few cording to the Missile Technology sovereignty and territorial integrity do not necessarily reflect the views of
questions. First, is the perception that Control Regime guidelines. However, in the Indo-Pacific. Beyond that, the the Manohar Parrrikar IDSA or of the
there exist serious differences within when a country takes a stand at the Quad had little agency to impact the Government of India.
the Quad true? As argued earlier, the international high-table, it considers events in the far-away conflict zone.
Quad has been constituted as a mini- the entirety of the situation where Third, will divergent views over This is the abridged version of the
lateral grouping dealing with the stra- interests, values and history work in the Ukrainian crisis weaken the article which appeared first in the
tegic issues of the Indo-Pacific. The tandem rather than any one of these Quad? In a way, the crisis is a test Comment section of the website (www.
Quad’s informal mandate is limited to elements working in isolation. There of the Quad’s resilience. So far, the idsa.in) of Manohar Parrikar Institute
the Indo-Pacific and challenges posed are many issues where individual joint statement suggests that there is for Defense Studies and Analyses, New
to the regional order. The basic pur- Quad nations have different views. a common understanding among the Delhi on March 22, 2022

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