Washington takes Delhi’s inputs on Indo-Pacific and Beijing’s activities ahead of meeting between US President and Japanese PM.
In what augurs well for India’s plan to counter China, US President Joe Biden, and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio have vowed to deepen cooperation with ASEAN countries as part of their strategy to push back against China’s belligerence in the Indo-Pacific and other sea regions. “It’s also a welcome development that the two leaders have decided to deepen ties and cooperation with India in their joint plan aimed at realizing a free and open Indo-Pacific region,” highly-placed diplomatic sources told The Sunday Guardian.
Sources also told TSG that “ahead of the much-awaited virtual meeting between the US President and Japanese Prime Minister on Friday, Washington sought India’s inputs on Chinese activities in the Indo-Pacific region.” “Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla shared India’s perspective and inputs on the Indo-Pacific amidst growing Chinese influence during a telephonic talk with US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman on Wednesday,” sources said. “Situation in the Indo-Pacific was discussed between the two officials, and the Indian foreign secretary shared useful inputs with Sherman,” a diplomat said. Sources also told this newspaper that it is important that the US official collected these inputs and other useful information just before Biden’s meeting with the Japanese Prime Minister. “Indo-Pacific, South China Sea and East China Sea were the issues on which Biden and Kishida focused a lot during the 80 minutes meeting,” sources said.
“The two leaders (Biden and Kishida) resolved to push back against the People’s Republic of China (PRC)’s attempts to change the status quo in the East China Sea and the South China Sea.” President Biden and Japanese PM Kishida Fumio also shared concern about China’s action in several regions like Xinjiang, and Hong Kong.
However, the emphasis on increasing ASEAN outreach by the two leaders is what matters the most for India. “The two leaders vowed to deepen cooperation with like-minded countries such as Australia, India, ASEAN, and Europe, toward realizing a free and open Indo-Pacific region.”
There is no denying that located in the middle of the Indo-Pacific waters, ASEAN is facing the challenge resulting from China’s aggression. With this in view, ASEAN states are quite crucial for India as regards its action plan to counter China in the region. “India is always keen that the US and other Quad nations like Japan and Australia and even European countries also step up their outreach to ASEAN nations with the main purpose to rein in Beijing in the Indo-Pacific,” says a diplomat.
“That the Biden administration is turning its focus in a much bigger way on ASEAN with China’s perspective in mind should be a welcome development as far as India’s strategy is concerned,” he added. In another significant development, Joe Biden is likely to meet the 10 ASEAN leaders in Washington soon in what is being seen as a good opportunity for the US as far as its strategy to counter China is concerned, sources say.
In his meetings with ASEAN countries’ foreign ministers, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has been highlighting the issues related to Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific and other regions of the sea. Recently, Jaishankar’s interaction with Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn was significant in the backdrop of all this. Sources say that Biden’s proposed meeting with ASEAN leaders also figured during the interaction. Significantly, Cambodia at present holds the rotating chair of ASEAN.
Moreover, the second in-person Quad summit to be held in Japan later this year will be an important development from the point of view of Chinese aggressive behaviour in the Indo-Pacific. Sources say drastic preparations are being made to finalize the agenda and strategy ahead of the summit. This summit will be attended by Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi apart from heads of Japan and Australia.