The Quad: Hype Vs Reality

The Quad certainly cannot mitigate India's security challenges but with its strategic heft it could out an expansionist China under pressure

Barely six months ago, China dismissed the idea that an international coalition against it will emerge, saying “that day will never, ever come”. But, thanks to China’s aggressive expansionism and renegade actions, that day is coming, with the Quad likely to be at the core of a broader international coalition. China has fuelled the Quad’s development, with its military aggression in Ladakh helping to move India closer into this strategic grouping.

It is precisely this border aggression that has lent new momentum to the Quad’s evolution toward a concrete formal security arrangement. India holds the key to the Quad’s direction and future because the US, Australia and Japan already are tied by bilateral and trilateral security alliances among themselves.