NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar expressed optimism on Friday that the incoming Donald Trump administration will continue to support the Quad diplomatic grouping, which includes Australia, India, Japan, and the US, and aims to ensure a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific region. Trump is expected to visit India next year for a Quad summit during his second term.
Jaishankar highlighted that the Quad had seen two significant upgrades during Trump’s first administration and credited the president-elect for reviving the mechanism. “In 2017, the first year of Trump’s presidency, Quad began at the vice minister’s level. In 2019, under Trump, it was upgraded to the foreign ministers’ level,” he recalled. “In 2020, despite the global lockdown, one of the few physical diplomatic meetings held was a Quad meeting in Tokyo. Based on past records, I would argue that the Trump administration deserves much credit for Quad’s second incarnation and its subsequent progress.”
Jaishankar was speaking at the India-Japan Forum organized by the Ananta Centre. He also noted that Quad had been upgraded to a summit-level engagement under the Biden administration and described it as “one of the most expansive forms of intergovernmental coordination.”
Regarding India’s relations with China following the Eastern Ladakh border standoff, Jaishankar referred to the recent disengagement process and acknowledged that challenges remain in terms of de-escalation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). He said, “India and China recently completed the disengagement process in Eastern Ladakh, and both sides have agreed to resume bilateral exchanges. Special representatives, Ajit Doval and Wang Yi, are expected to meet later this month.”
He further explained that India’s relationship with China had been based on the understanding that border areas would remain peaceful and stable. “In 2020, China chose to mobilize significant forces along the border, and we responded with counter-deployments,” Jaishankar added. “While we have disengaged forces from close proximity, challenges remain, and de-escalation is still a work in progress.”
