Raisina Dialogue: India’s lofty ideals make clear it’s a Quad misfit

India favours multipolarity and democratisation of the global space, while opposing Cold War thinking and spheres of influence
It’s hard to see the Quad reflected in that kind of outlook – Brics is a much better fit

Akhil Ramesh

Published: 5:30am, 3 Mar 2024

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The latest Raisina Dialogue, held recently in New Delhi, attracted global leaders and scholars in a display of India’s position in the world and the clout it wields – not just across the Indo-Pacific but among the Global South.

It also showed that India is a much better fit for groupings such as Brics, or even I2U2, than for the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, which launched a think tank forum on the sidelines of the dialogue. Brics’ members include Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, while the I2U2 bloc comprises India, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and the US.

At the dialogue, eyes rolled when British Labour politician Peter Mandelson called for “anti-colonial solidarity” across the Global South against the “imperial war in Ukraine”. Some saw this remark as an indictment of India’s neutral stance on the war, in contrast to the rest of Quad, namely, the US, Australia and Japan. The irony of a British peer lecturing its former colony on anti-colonialism was not lost.

In response, Mauritian Foreign Minister Maneesh Gobin said: “Territorial integrity should apply equally to the Chagos Archipelago.” The archipelago is at the heart of a territorial dispute between the UK and Mauritius. The exchange made headlines in India and circulated on social media, feeding a feeling of Western hypocrisy in foreign affairs.

Another instance that reflected India’s misfit in the Quad, ironically, was Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar’s speech at the inaugural Quad Think Tank Forum.

He claimed the Quad reflected “the growth of a multipolar order”, “post-alliance and post-Cold-War thinking”, was “against spheres of influence”, “expresses the democratising of the global space and a collaborative, not unilateral, approach” and “is a statement that in this day and age, others cannot have a veto on our choices”.

India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar gestures at a news conference at a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting in Benaulim, India, on May 5, 2023. Photo: AFP

Had he mixed up his notes for the Quad forum with those for a Brics gathering? (It would not be the first time an Indian foreign minister has mixed up his notes.)

Jaishankar’s claim that the Quad reflected those values is at odds with how the other three members function or even envision the world order. Paradoxically, his claims fit neatly into the agenda of a grouping like Brics.

First, while multipolarity is championed by nations of the Global South, including China, India and Russia, neither Japan nor Australia arguably does, and the US definitely doesn’t.

Second, Quad leader the US does not appear to have embraced “post-alliance and post-Cold-War thinking”. It is pushing for firm alliances with a non-aligned India, among others, and while there is official denial of a cold war with China, talk of a clash of ideas, particularly between communism and democracy, suggests otherwise.

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Third, the Monroe Doctrine and its bid to create spheres of influence, notably in Latin America, continues to cast a shadow over American foreign policy. It can be seen in the words of Donald Trump-era national security adviser John Bolton, when he said the doctrine was “alive and well” and when President Joe Biden refers to “everything south of the Mexican border” as “America’s front yard”.

Finally, despite calls for democratisation of the global space by nations such as South Africa, China and Brazil – particularly in multilateral institutions and the sanctions regime – the Western world appears in no hurry to give up the privilege of unilateral action. On the contrary, Western powers have pressured nations to join their unilateral sanctions on Russia.

It is truly difficult to see how the Quad reflects Jaishankar’s claims, which align more naturally with the causes of the Global South.

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The catalyst for increased coordination and cooperation among the Quad members was supposedly the perceived threat of Chinese belligerence in the Indo-Pacific. With recent efforts by the Biden administration to stabilise ties with China, and Australia and Japan mimicking the approach, the Quad seems to have increasingly little to bind it together.

At the Raisina Dialogue, “China loomed over everything, of course, but was rarely named”, noted Ian Hall, a professor of international relations at Australia’s Griffith University, who attended. As Jaishankar said at the dialogue: “People say that the Quad is directed against somebody. And it struck me that yes, you know, all four of us have had problems with the UK.”

Despite sanctions against Russia imposed by its fellow Quad members, India continues to advocate for Russia to expand its partnerships with Asian nations and for Moscow to be given “multiple options”.

India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar shakes hands with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov at a press conference after their talks in Moscow on December 27. Photo: Reuters

After all these years, the Quad cannot grow teeth. It has neither evolved into a military alliance like Nato – despite Chinese concerns about the Quad becoming an “Asian Nato” – nor shown great coordination, as seen from the underperformance of its vaccine partnership at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Clearly, India is not moving towards the West. For Western nations to align themselves with India’s realpolitik would require a drastic tailoring of their approach to world affairs – a highly unlikely transformation.

India will continue to straddle different camps. Russia remains a steadfast partner, most recently training Indian astronauts for Gaganyaan, India’s maiden space mission. Across the world, there are only a few groups where India’s attitudes and vision for the global order are shared by most members, if not all. Brics is one, I2U2 could be another if one discounts the US. But the Quad is certainly not.

Akhil Ramesh is director of the India Programme and Economic Statecraft Initiative at the Pacific Forum