With China increasing its military budget by a whopping 7.2 percent to $225 billion, QUAD allies Australia and Japan are committed to deepening defense and economic cooperation with India, even as Beijing’s “unlimited ally” Russia attacks India’s informal power forum , USA, Australia and Japan.
While Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is scheduled to visit India from March 8-11, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is arriving in Delhi on March 19 for a one-day official visit on March 20. Both countries are very close partners of India. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are virtually co-founders of the revived QUAD.
Although the three countries, along with the US, have a very close relationship to exchange information on virtually any topic, the hot topic of discussion this time will be establishing defense cooperation and creating resilient global supply chains in the wake of the ongoing war in Ukraine and Chinese aggression in the US. Indo-Pacific region.
Xi’s regime increased its military budget to $225 billion, more than the budgets of India ($73 billion), Australia ($48.7 billion) and Japan ($51 billion) combined. To make matters worse, China’s military budget is higher than the disclosed amount, as revenues from its growing military-industrial complex are plowed back into military spending, also in the billions of USD. The strategic intent of the increased spending is to prepare China for three main dangers: invasion (read Taiwan), overthrow (read Sinkiang or Xinjiang), and separation (read Tibet).
The picture of which countries China sees as adversaries will become clearer, as any military emergency over the Senkaku Islands or neighboring Taiwan will seriously affect Japan, and military consolidation in Tibet and Xinjiang will put pressure on India. China’s PLA, backed by an ambitious Beijing, is in expansionary mode and running into friction with Australia as Xi builds military cooperation in the Far Pacific and has attacked the AUKUS alliance with Russia. The AUKUS alliance will strengthen Australia’s naval capabilities by providing Canberra with conventionally armed nuclear-powered submarines to patrol its area of ​​influence.
Although the situation along the 3,488 km Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China is stable, there has been no de-escalation of PLA forces from the border since Beijing attempted to unilaterally change the ground situation in eastern Ladakh in May 2020. While India’s opposition parties are trying to provoke the Modi government into some mishap with China, the Indian Army is prepared for any contingency with its worst-case scenario plans.
Between India, Australia and Japan, the Indo-Pacific is high on the agenda, with the expansion of China’s navy and its arsenal of medium-range conventional and nuclear missiles a major concern. Over the years, Chinese strategic surveillance ships have consistently mapped the Indian Ocean floor and the Lombok and Ombi-Vetar entry routes to the South China Sea, as nuclear or conventional submarines must surface if they enter the Indian Ocean via the Sunda or Malacca Straits from South China. Sea. The Lombok and Ombi-Vitar channels near Australia are deep enough to handle submarines without the requirement to surface.
While India, Australia and Japan have a logistics agreement and are part of the Malabar naval exercises, military cooperation between India and Japan will only deepen if Tokyo abandons its pacifist doctrine and decides to share advanced military technologies such as lithium-ion technology for diesel . attack on submarines with New Delhi. Given the geographic location of the three countries, close defense cooperation will enhance mutual security and act as a deterrent to expansionist forces in the Indo-Pacific.
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