If Not An Alliance, A Talkshop for Future One If The Need Arises

U.S, Australia, and Japan have a formal strategic alliance in Pacific region. They meet regularly to talk about issues. Japan invited India to join the talks this time in Melbourne. While there is no talk of India becoming an formal alliance partner, the significance of joining the non-Chinese Asian trio powers cannot be minimized.

India, Australia, Japan and the US are looking at issues of "common interest", but not aiming at creating a new security alliance, a top Australian Foreign Affairs official said here. Jennifer Rawson, from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), told a Senate Estimates Committee that officials from the four nations had met recently for preliminary discussions, 'The Age' reported on Monday. "Officials from these countries are looking at issues of common interest," she said. But she said the discussions, which were sought by Japan, were not about creating a new security bloc. "It is a meeting of four countries who share values and growing co-operation," Rawson said. "The discussions are not about a security dialogue or alliance," she said. There are suggestions that any move to add India to the security alliance among the US, Japan and Australia could be seen as a threat by China. Australia, the US and Japan are already involved in a trilateral security dialogue. [PTI - via The Hindu]

No alliance now, but it's worthwhile for India to be engage with everyone - keeping with our motto of pleasing everyone. Just in case, things turn for the worst, with an emerging strategic, and increasingly militarily, powerful Chinese and diplomatically weak US, to the east of our region.