New Delhi, 03 March: The second day of Raisina Dialogue was opened with QUAD meeting. S. Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs, India, Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State, USA Hayashi Yoshimasa, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Japan Penny Wong, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Australia discussed issues related to international affairs during the Raisina Dialogue 2023 on Friday. 
The eighth edition of the annual Raisina Dialogue, which lays emphasis on geopolitics and geo-strategy, begins in New Delhi on Thursday.
The foreign ministers stated, ‘We aim to transform vision to practical.’ The Raisina Dialogue was inaugurated by PM Modi for three days after the biggest G20 Foreign Ministers meeting. S Jaishankar stated, ‘India has come out of Covid-19 challenge very strongly’ at the Raisina Dialogue.
While addressing the QUAD meeting, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the US is rightly focused on what is happening in Ukraine. He said, “For us future is Indo-Pacific. We are rightly focused on what is happening in Ukraine. If we allow Russia to do what it is doing in Ukraine, then that is a message to the aggressors everywhere that they may be able to get away with it.”
The #QUAD Squad: Power and Purpose of the Polygon at #RaisinaDialogue2023 . #WATCH @SecBlinken @DrSJaishankar @MEAIndia @MofaJapan_en @AAPNewswire pic.twitter.com/iGLxhFBjKu
— Dr. Shahid Siddiqui (@shahidsiddiqui) March 3, 2023
However, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong also lauded India as a “critical, great power”.
Wong attended the Quad Foreign Ministers’ meeting presided by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on the sidelines of the Raisina Dialogue 2023 held in the national capital Delhi. Wong said India’s civilisation prowess brought a fresh perspective on dealing with current issues.
“Wong also explained how Quad can be a complimentary actor in Indo-Pacific.”The complementarity of this configuration with the architecture of the region, I think is demonstrated from the Australian perspective by our geography and by our interest,” said the Australian FM Wong said that in terms of geography, Australia is the smallest economy, most southernmost economy, abounded on one side by the Indian Ocean, the other side by the Pacific, ASEAN, and particularly the northern countries of ASEAN.
Japanese foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, who couldn’t attend G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting on Thursday, was also there along with other QUAD members in a panel discussion “The Quad Squad: Power and Purpose of the Polygon.
As Asia’s “Quad” powers search for ways to define the group, Japan’s foreign minister has offered a model — The Beatles.
Yoshimasa Hayashi, an avid music fan, drew the parallel to the Fab Four on Friday, as he met his Quad counterparts from the United States, Australia and India in New Delhi.
“This is kind of a band like The Beatles. The members are fixed and they always play together (for over) 10 years,” Hayashi said. “There are different collections of countries — some informal alliances, some looser partnerships, some working together on a bilateral basis, some in slightly larger groupings,” he said.
“As long as China abides by the law and international norms under international institutions then this is not a conflicting issue,” FM Yoshimasa Hayashi further added.
The Quad meeting was followed by an important discussion on G20 and the changing World. This was also not untouched by Russia-Ukraine issue.
Speaking at the Raisina Dialogue 2023, Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Mélanie Joly shared West’s strategy against Russia and called for strict action.
“Without diplomatic consensus it’s difficult to resolve #Russia – #Ukraine issues.We witnessed in #G20FMM that 18 countries were against #Russian invasion in #Ukraina”,says @melaniejoly , #Foregn Minister of #Canada at #RaisinaDialogue2023 .More at @AfricaWnn . @CanadaFP @g20org pic.twitter.com/L1ZLFDUCYg
— Dr. Shahid Siddiqui (@shahidsiddiqui) March 3, 2023
She said, “The paralysis that is affecting particularly the UN Security Council is linked to the war in Ukraine. The more countries send a clear message to Russia, the more we will be able to isolate Russia politically and diplomatically.”
“Therefore, we should create a movement to ultimately get Russia out of Ukraine and to send a message to China also that it is important that ultimately it does not support Russia,” she added
While, Bangladesh Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Mohammad Shahriar Alam said, “Reform of the UN has to be a top priority agenda at the global level and the Global North has to do much more than what it is doing to bridge the gap with the Global South.”
He also raised the issue of Rohingya refugees that his country is facing and said not many countries in the Global North have helped usher democracy in Myanmar.
Calling for a change in approach, Alam stressed the importance of reform of the UN.
“India today is one of the largest countries in terms of population, what voice do you have, your voice is no more than a country of 100,000 people. Of course you are in various committees and seen differently but your vote is the same as that if a country of 100,000,” the minister said.
However, UAE’s Minister of State for International Co-operation Reem Al Hashimy, focussed the climate issue. She said, “climate finance ‘business as usual’ is not enough.”
UAE Minister Al Hashimy said funds are not being allocated efficiently to countries that are transitioning or in need of capital for development, especially when it comes to climate change action.
“We have been seeing earthquakes, typhoons, floods and droughts on an unprecedented scale,” Ms Al Hashimy said during a panel discussion on second day of RAISINA DIALOGUE.
“We are not just a consumer of this global society, but a part of solution”, @reemelhassany , Minister of international cooperation, 🇦🇪 UAE said at #RaisinaDialogue2023 . @UAENews @COP28_UAE @AfricaWnn @UAEmediaoffice @UAEembassyIndia @IndembAbuDhabi pic.twitter.com/82iksL8ztN
— Dr. Shahid Siddiqui (@shahidsiddiqui) March 3, 2023
As the UAE prepares to host Cop28, Al Hashimy said her country was committed to trying to do things differently.
“We want it to be solution-driven and impact orientated, where we’re bringing in technology and innovation at the very heart of how we want to provide practical solutions,” she said.
But, later on the day in Raisina Dialogue 2023, a boisterous international audience of academics, diplomats and business executives both cheered and groaned as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov presented Moscow’s view of the war in Ukraine, reflecting global splits on the crisis.
To loud applause, Lavrov emphasized what he called a “double standard” in questions directed to him about the war, especially when contrasted with the United States’ own military interventions in past decades.
“Have you been interested in these years [in] what is going on in Iraq, what is going on in Afghanistan?” he asked his interviewer, pausing to a round of applause. “[You] believe that the United States has the right to declare a threat to its national interest, any place on earth, like they did in Yugoslavia, in Iraq, in Libya, in Syria … and you don’t ask them any questions?”
At the Raisina Dialogue, Lavrov made clear that Russia would no longer rely on Western players and instead would shift its energy policy toward “reliable” and “credible” partners such as India and China. He said the world is not affected by Russia’s actions but rather by the West’s reactions to Russia.
-Dr. M Shahid Siddiqui (PhD), Follow via Twitter @shahidsiddiqui
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