New Delhi: A new quad is being built? From the looks of it, probably yes.
On Monday, the foreign ministers of India, the US, UAE and Israel are to meet in a virtual conference, the first of its kind. While Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid are to be joined from Israel, where Indian ministers are on the visit, UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken from their respective capitals. Will be .
While India has been developing closer ties with the three countries individually, each giving a new impetus to the bilateral segment since 2014, the new “Quad” aims to combine the collective strengths of the four countries.
India is already in partnership with the US, Australia and Japan to ensure a “free, open and rules-based” Indo-Pacific in the backdrop of a rising China.
The coming together of the new “quad” is helped by the 2020 Abrahamic Agreement – signed between the US, UAE and Israel in August 2020. Israel and the UAE normalized relations in September 2020, changing the geopolitical map of the Middle East. While the agreement to normalize Israel-UAE relations helped bring diplomatic recognition to the Jewish state and more economic opportunities for the UAE (with some promise from the US to allow Abu Dhabi to store advanced US military hardware if the media). If reports are to be believed), there is also the common adversity with Iran which strengthens the agreement. Since the signing of the Abrahamic Agreement, Israel has also established diplomatic relations with Bahrain.
India officially endorsed the Abrahamic Agreement with the Indian Ministry of External Affairs in September 2020, saying that New Delhi “has always supported peace and stability in West Asia which is our extended neighbourhood. As such, we welcome these agreements to normalize relations between Israel and the UAE and Bahrain.”
New Delhi also said it would “continue our traditional support for the Palestinian cause and look forward to resuming direct talks for an acceptable two-state solution.”
The new Quad allows India to engage more freely with Israel and India’s partners in the Gulf region. Israel is a major security partner with defense trade between the two countries valued at around $1 billion annually. Some of the Gulf countries with which India has developed closeness are seen as key negotiators on Afghanistan, Qatar being a case in point. UAE has been a negotiator for India when it comes to Pakistan.
New Delhi has so far been able to balance relations with Iran and its other partners in the region. Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar first summoned Ibrahim Raisi as President and also attended his inauguration in August. Cooperation with Iran is a key element of its strategy for Afghanistan, given that Tehran has ties with the Taliban and is also critical to the implementation of the Chabahar port.
Whether the new “quad” really takes shape will be interesting to see how its future develops. As they say – watch this place.
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