India-China border row, Covid-19 vaccine diplomacy fuelling New Delhi’s new embrace of the Quad, say analysts

China’s rising assertiveness, Covid-19 and the Myanmar coup are expected to be on the agenda at Friday’s Quad meeting

Analysts say while the border clash and vaccine diplomacy have shifted New Delhi’s views on the Quad

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An Indian soldier stands guard near a mountain pass that connects Srinagar to Ladakh, bordering China. Photo: AFP

Published: 12:30pm, 12 Mar 2021Updated: 10:45pm, 12 Mar 2021

China’s growing influence in the Asia-Pacific, coronavirus vaccines and the Myanmar coup are expected to be on the agenda as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday meets his counterparts from Japan, Australia and the US in a teleconference of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or “Quad”.

The Times of India news outlet reported on Friday that India would manufacture the single dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine with financing from the US and Japan. Australia would be involved in shipping it to Southeast Asia and Pacific countries.

A senior US administration official had earlier told Reuters that the meeting would see several financing agreements between the Quad parties to support an increase in manufacturing capacity for coronavirus vaccines in India, with some of the doses going to Southeast Asian countries.

According to a Nikkei report, the four members will work together to secure rare earth metals that are essential to the production of electric car motors and other products. China is the top producer of rare earths.

The online meeting marks the first summit since the idea for the grouping of the four major democracies was conceived in 2006. New Delhi’s unwillingness to be seen as part of an anti-China bloc, given its trade ties with China, was cited as one of the reasons for the Quad’s decade-long hiatus. Australia withdrew from the grouping in 2008 to boost relations with China.