The Quad squad

Can India, US, Japan and Australia contain an aggressive China?

Si vis pacem, para bellum. If you want peace, prepare for war. So goes an old Roman saying. With China under Xi Jinping baring its teeth at a host of nations, two major developments last fortnight show that a growing anti-China bloc, which includes India, is putting in place a bulwark against a belligerent Beijing.

First, in a surprising development, the US president Joe Biden, British prime minister Boris Johnson and Australian prime minister Scott Morrison jointly announced the formation of a trilateral security pact for the Indo-Pacific region on September 15. Nicknamed AUKUS, the pact was clearly a military alliance that will see, among other things, the US and the UK helping Australia acquire nuclear-powered submarines. The grouping did not mention which nation they were preparing against, but it was apparent that it was to counter China’s aggressive military intentions in the Indo-Pacific region, particularly in the South and East China Seas.