INTRODUCTION
AUKUS and QUAD are multinational alliances of which India is a member of the latter and an observer of the former. In the recent turbulent political times due to the pandemic and the Russian-Ukrainian war, India’s foreign policy and diplomacy has shifted towards garnering economic and socio-political stability this is reflected in the manner in which India is entering and deliberating multi-regional alliances and trade agreements.
In this article, Team YLCC aims at highlighting the nature of both international organisations in order to analyse India’s stance and approach in coming times. Read on!
WHAT IS AUKUS?
AUKUS is an acronym for the strategic alliance between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. It was initially formed as a means of defence to build and distribute a high-range class of nuclear-propelled submarines. The scope of the alliance widened with time to include hindering the hegemony of China in the Indo-Pacific region.[1]
The biggest challenge to the continuance of the alliance was brought to the fore when Australia decided to end its contract given to France for twelve diesel-powered electric submarines to replace its current fleet, in 2016. Relations between Canberra and Paris took a huge hit and the immediate fall-out of this contract angered many French policymakers.
Washington, London, and Canberra have repeatedly echoed their collective desire to quell the monopoly of China over the Indo-Pacific region via this alliance.
With this alliance of the three countries boasting a huge fleet of nuclear-propelled submarines and other long-range missiles, China will face an obvious threat and has not shied from rebuking the joint efforts by the country.
India shares a relationship, although remote, with Australia being one of its QUAD members however India’s deal with Russia for the supply of more than half of its military technology would certainly be something that both Beijing and Moscow look into with greater detail should AUKUS progress exponentially.
WHAT IS QUAD?
The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD) is a group of 4 countries— India, The United States of America, Japan, and Australia. It is not a formal alliance. However, the countries have found maritime cooperation, trade, and multilateral trading to be the leading points of mutual cooperation between them. The countries have also recently begun to deliberate on the issue of and threat posed by China and seek to quell its stronghold on the global political and international relations.
Over the years, QUAD’s diplomacy has waxed and waned. It is a loose grouping rather than a formal alliance. Japan initially emphasised the democratic identity of the four nations, whereas India seemed more comfortable emphasising functional cooperation. Australian leaders have been reluctant about creating the impression that the group is a formal alliance.[2]
The collective interest of all these countries have reaped billions of dollars’ worth of strategic partnership and trade between and amongst the countries. The United States has benefited the most from conducting trade in the Indo-Pacific region which has India, Japan, and Australia included in it. Although on the face of it, this multinational group of nations is not an institutionalised group of countries, their fervent aim over the COVID-19 pandemic was to hinder the humanitarian and regional crackdown of the Chinese Communist Party and its Premier, especially their treatment of the Uighur Muslims and the regional dominance over Hong Kong.
Having been formed in 2004, the first formal summit was only held in 2021 and there have been “Quad-plus” summits held where nations like New Zealand, South Korea, and Vietnam were invited as observers indicating a possible expansion in the future.
AUKUS V QUAD: WHICH IS MORE BENEFICIAL IN INDIA?
It was in September, 2021, that the trilateral defence pact came into existence and the primary aim of keeping an open Indo-Pacific channel was brought into existence. Albeit India is not a part of it, policymakers in Delhi would be keeping a close eye on the developments of this alliance, especially the way Canberra deals with political pressure after the fall-out from the French contract.
Yet, for India, the new defence agreement is inextricably tied to its own participation in and strategic calculations vis-à-vis the QUAD. In particular, AUKUS highlights some of the dilemmas that India faces with regard to the AUCKUS: whether to share or pass the burden to contain China in the Indo-Pacific and whether to commit to even greater reliance on the United States as its defence partner.[3]
China’s usurping rise to power and its regional hegemony in Asia is being countered with the current world order wherein AUKUS is not a hindrance but rather a complementary tool for the QUAD. Whilst the former is strengthening the defence, the latter is seen to be an all-democratic alliance of countries countering the despotic narrative set by China and Russia in the region.
China is also looking to strengthen its foothold by initiating the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) which is causing stern disapproval in circles of Washington.
The glaring fault lines are visible when one delves deeper into the structure and organisation of AUKUS. Without any Secretariat, or an elaborate manner of conducting meetings and deliberations, the alliance focuses on a system akin to India’s 2+2 Summit (between the Defence and External Affairs Ministers of India and any other country)
However, it is the interoperability which is still limited as New Delhi still insists on buying defence machinery and military technology from Russia, shoring up to billions of dollars in trade with the country that is at the heightened distress for most of the other countries following Russia’s decision to initiate and continue with the invasion of Ukraine. As long as India relies on Russian equipments like the S-400s amongst many others, the counter-narrative will be diluted.[4]
CONCLUSION
Both the alliances have their goals set out, they wish to nip the bud of authoritarianism right at its inception and not let any country which does not align with its democratic and republican stance to progress. The ideals of QUAD and AUKUS are work in tandem to a large extent and the commonality between the two is Australia.
India’s trade and political relation with Australia is at an upward trajectory, the strategic information sharing of the activities of naval ships and nuclear-propelled submarines in the Indo-Pacific could be of a huge significance to India as it gets to learn of China’s movements.
India would benefit more from a robust participation and alliance with the QUAD as it seeks to dispel the economic progress and maritime monopoly but it will be with the advancements made in the Indo-Pacific region by AUKUS that would hugely benefit India.
India’s non-alignment must equate to shrewd diplomacy wherein it maintains its power and prowess as both a member of QUAD, a part of BRICS, and an observer of AUKUS.
It is, therefore, against this backdrop of a tandem between the QUAD and BRICS, that a multipolar international order presents India with an opportunity to practice multiple and multi-layered alignments based on economic, socio-political, geographical and security interests.
Not since the 1950s, when India seemed well positioned to shape the post-colonial order, has New Delhi come to occupy such a critical position in international politics. Today, New Delhi fully recognises Beijing’s ambitions to dominate Asia and its waters. India is no longer defensive about partnering with the West to rebalance power in Asia, and it is also confident about negotiating mutually beneficial terms of engagement with Washington. These factors are at the root of the QUAD’s advance of the last three years.[5]
[1] Patrick Wintour, What is the AUKUS alliance and what is its implications?, The Guardian, (Nov. 26th, 2022, 10:27 PM)
[2] Sheila A. Smith, The Quad in the Indo-Pacific: What to Know, Council on Foreign Relations, (Nov. 26th, 2022, 10:38 PM)
[3] Manjari Miller, The QUAD, AUKUS, and India’s Dilemmas, Council on Foreign Relations, (Nov. 27th, 2022, 9:05 AM)
[4] Tara Kartha, Quad and AUKUS goals are clear as black and white. Only one can cut China’s power, The Print, (Nov. 27th, 2022, 10:18 AM)
[5] C Raja Mohan, AUKUS, The Quad, and India’s Strategic Pivot, Foreign Policy, (Nov. 27th, 2022, 10:46 AM)
YLCC would like to thank its Content Team for their valuable insights in this article.
