With Quad Summit, India Plans to Outsmart China at its Own Game
News 18The Quad virtual summit constitutes a major step in politically consolidating this group. Knowing China’s sensitivities about the Quad, India has been careful not to rub them so as not to disturb the precarious modus vivendi with China on the border and the ties in general. The collapse of the border agreements with China’s Ladakh aggression would explain India’s readiness to raise its stakes in the Quad. Again, with China in mind, the leaders have agreed to “cooperation on the critical technologies of the future to ensure that innovation is consistent with a free, open, inclusive, and resilient Indo-Pacific”. Japan’s concerns, as well as of others, are addressed with the agreement to “prioritise the role of international law in the maritime domain, particularly as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and facilitate collaboration, including in maritime security, to meet challenges to the rules-based maritime order in the East and South China Seas”.