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

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.

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”.

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.

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Why the US-China cold war is heating up in public

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