Jaipur:

Former foreign secretary Shyam Saran said the United States, which persuaded India to form the Quad, had wanted then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to ask his Japanese counterpart “not to encourage” a diplomatic alliance focused on the Indo-Pacific region.

Speaking at the 17th Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) on Saturday, Saran said the United States explained its stance on the Quad talks and said it needed China to stand by its side on the issue of Iran and North Korea’s nuclear programmes, And argued that “neither the Chinese nor the Russians are very happy with the Quad agreement.”

The Quad, a diplomatic partnership between Australia, India, Japan and the United States, was put in cold storage after protests from China. In the face of China’s growing self-confidence in international affairs, this policy was restored in 2017 after a lapse of 10 years.

“What happened was before our Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh’s official visit to Tokyo, our American friends contacted me and told us, ‘Please tell your Prime Minister not to encourage Shinzo Abe[then Prime Minister of Japan]) to participate in the four-party talks. Mr Thasaran said: “We want to push this process forward. Now is not the time for us to do that. “

Saran, who served as foreign secretary from 2004 to 2006, made the remarks at a conference titled “Heart of the Matter: Quad Talks and a New Indo-Pacific Vision” at the JLF on Saturday.

Surprised by the U.S. stance, Saran said he asked U.S. officials two things: “Japan is your ally, why don’t you talk to them personally?” and ‘You led us to believe this was a great Platform, why are you trying to back off now’”.

Saran said the U.S. official responded: “‘We need the Chinese today because we are discussing the Iranian nuclear issue in the U.N. Security Council. We also have the six-party talks on North Korea and we are working to resume those talks… This does not Not that we are taking action. We are back, but for now let us wait,” said Mr Saran, who replied: “This is your (U.S.) initiative. You think it is inconvenient at the moment, so be it.” Quad It originated from the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, when four countries formed the “Tsunami Core Group” to coordinate emergency response and humanitarian assistance.

In subsequent years, there were efforts to institutionalize it into the Quad alliance, led by the late Shinzo Abe during his first term as Japan’s prime minister from 2006 to 2007.

U.S. Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti, one of the panelists who discussed the topic, did not respond directly to Saran’s remarks but said “the present and the history we are writing” is more important to him than in the past. events are more important.

“The first time my president engaged all countries, all institutions — bilateral, trilateral, quadrilateral — was the Quad in Washington, D.C., where he hosted three national leaders (from India, Japan, Australia) . And that’s a very powerful shift for us. So history is interesting to me, but not that interesting to me… The history we’re writing is not only fascinating, but profound,” he added.

Mr Saran said he had no doubt China was the “glue” holding the Quad together, adding that Beijing initially called the Quad “some fluff on the waves” but would no longer refer to it as The same name as the Quad Alliance. Today the group has gained “substance”.

“Maybe it’s not specific to China, but it certainly becomes more concrete because of the consensus among all of our partners that the balance of power in what we call the Indo-Pacific has been changing to our detriment. And so if we don’t work together The balance is going to get worse,” the 78-year-old career diplomat said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)