A new four party security block including the US, Japan, Australia, and India is being formed and apparently discussed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his visit to Japan with his counterpart Shinzo Abe Indian PM Visit to Japan. In a special curtain raiser piece, we had reported prospects of this dialogue before Singh visited Japan.

India apparently has proposed specific items to be included in the dialogue framework that could include “democracy and human rights.” The willingness of India to participate in such a forum is attributed to India’s growing economy, stature in the world as a peaceful and powerful regional power that is emerging to be a global power, and its vastly improved relations with the US. Such a block also stems from India’s separate strategic agreements with the US and Japan.

In parallel, India is pursuing a trilateral framework with Russia and China