NOVEMBER 21, 2021
NEW DELHI: India will be central to defining the future of Asia, according to US President Joe Biden’s Indo-Pacific coordinator, who also announced that Japan will host the next Quad summit in 2022.
Speaking at the US Institute of Peace in Washington on Friday, Kurt Campbell described India as the key “fulcrum” player in Asia.“I’m very bullish about the future with India. I think we all recognize that the critical, crucial member in the Quad is India.”
Campbell expanded on his perception of the changed context for India that propelled a famously alliance-shy New Delhi to embrace the Quad and numerous other minilateral groupings.
“It’s difficult to exaggerate the strategic paradigm for New Delhi (after the border tensions with China in Eastern Ladakh which started in 2020 and is still continuing).” The Quad will not expand for the present, Campbell said, even as he affirmed that there were other countries that showed interest.
