US Proposes To Hold The First Meeting Of The Leaders Of Quad Grouping To Counterbalance China’s Rise

In a major development, the United States (US) has proposed to hold the first meeting of the leaders of the Quad grouping comprising India, Japan and Australia along with itself in a bid to counterbalance China's rise, reports Economic Times.

The latest development marks the US President Joe Biden’s new administration eagerness to build on renewed attention to the grouping of the four major Indo-Pacific democracies. The national security adviser Jake Sullivan had earlier termed the Quad grouping as “a foundation upon which to build substantial American policy in the Indo-Pacific.”

Known officially as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, the Quad grouping first came into being in 2004 in response to the Indian Ocean tsunami. Thereafter though, the group's activities were revived in 2017 to move beyond the areas of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief and to focus on advancing the efforts to ensure a "free, open and inclusive" Indo-Pacific.

It should be noted that the US' former Secretary of State Michael Pompeo had stated after the meeting of the foreign ministers of the grouping in bygone October to "institutionalise" the Quad. He had then stated that the grouping has the capacity to "push back against the Chinese Communist Party".

In their telephonic conversation recently, Japanese Prime Minister (PM) Yoshihide Suga and President Joseph Biden had also agreed to promote the grouping. However, it should be noted that India is yet to firm up its stance on the proposed meeting. Also, unlike Australia and Japan, India is not a treaty ally of the US.