By Gurjit Singh : Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s eighth visit to Japan for the annual summit is significant. This is his first such summit with Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru, though the two have met on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit (EAS) and the G7. Ishiba currently faces a political deficit, having lost the majority in both the lower and, more recently, the upper houses of the Japanese parliament. Yet, efforts to oust him from the leadership of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) remain muted, perhaps because few wish to shoulder the burden of managing a turbulent relationship with a rampaging US administration.
For India and Japan, both Quad partners, this summit provides an opportunity to assess the regional situation and the future of the Quad, as well as their respective engagement with the US, which is discomfiting for both. They reiterated their commitment to continue the Quad arrangement, but in the absence of a clear signal from the US, the next Quad summit remains uncertain. It may, therefore, be timely for India, Japan, and Australia to convene their own summit, perhaps on the sidelines of the upcoming EAS in Malaysia this October, to reaffirm their shared commitments.
Source : The Indian Express
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