It is also true that economic success stories, notably in Asia, have been fostered by partnership with China. Directly through trade. Consider the volumes for all important economies in the region, including Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Australia, formal military partners of USA. Or of the vibrant ASEAN ( What SAARC should have aspired to be ) which finds China and the West equally valuable. Indirectly, through manufacturing value chains that weave through the region. India missed the bus by opting out of RCEP and then CPTPP.
What a relief. India – with a per capita income of $ 3,000 – was getting drawn into very deep, shark infested waters. USA is the natural leader of Quad, but it was Japan, notably PM Abe, who took the initiative in India partnering with three countries that had been formal military allies for a long time. In an oceanic domain, thousands of miles away from its core security challenges along land borders with China and Pakistan. 2. The economic asymmetry between India and China, who were almost on par forty to fifty years ago, has widened to 5 : 1. In manufacturing it is a stunning 10 : 1 ( hence the failure of the China plus one strategy. In foreign trade too, China is the world’s top trading nation, ahead of even USA. With an economy whose full potential has still not been unleashed through reforms, Indian diplomats who still yearn for China treating India as an equal are living in the past. 3. India has long standing issues with China, the boundary dispute the most intractable. China and Pakistan have forged an indissoluble bond when it comes to India. These are the issues Indian planners have to deal with. Quad was a false dawn whose demise should not be mourned. 4. USA remains an important economic partner. Enlarge that relationship. Trade, investment, technology.
It is also true that economic success stories, notably in Asia, have been fostered by partnership with China. Directly through trade. Consider the volumes for all important economies in the region, including Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Australia, formal military partners of USA. Or of the vibrant ASEAN ( What SAARC should have aspired to be ) which finds China and the West equally valuable. Indirectly, through manufacturing value chains that weave through the region. India missed the bus by opting out of RCEP and then CPTPP.
What a relief. India – with a per capita income of $ 3,000 – was getting drawn into very deep, shark infested waters. USA is the natural leader of Quad, but it was Japan, notably PM Abe, who took the initiative in India partnering with three countries that had been formal military allies for a long time. In an oceanic domain, thousands of miles away from its core security challenges along land borders with China and Pakistan. 2. The economic asymmetry between India and China, who were almost on par forty to fifty years ago, has widened to 5 : 1. In manufacturing it is a stunning 10 : 1 ( hence the failure of the China plus one strategy. In foreign trade too, China is the world’s top trading nation, ahead of even USA. With an economy whose full potential has still not been unleashed through reforms, Indian diplomats who still yearn for China treating India as an equal are living in the past. 3. India has long standing issues with China, the boundary dispute the most intractable. China and Pakistan have forged an indissoluble bond when it comes to India. These are the issues Indian planners have to deal with. Quad was a false dawn whose demise should not be mourned. 4. USA remains an important economic partner. Enlarge that relationship. Trade, investment, technology.