BRITISH prime minister Boris Johnson may consider joining the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue(Quad) informal alliance when he visits India, reported The Times.
The strategic Quad forum consists of the US, India, Japan and Australia, and was formed to strengthen alliances to counter China.
According to reports, US president Biden is seeking to recruit more members to the forum.
UK foreign secretary Dominic Raab, during a trip to India last month, said that Britain had not ruled out joining the alliance.
Johnson is expected to travel to India as soon as conditions allow.
He plans to build on an invitation to India, Australia and South Korea to attend the G7 in June for discussion on formalising an expanded so-called D10 group of democracies, which is also aimed at countering Chinese expansionism, the report said.
The D10 proposal won the endorsement of Kurt Campbell, Biden’s new 'Asia tsar', who also opened the door to expanding the Quad to counter Chinese military adventurism in the South China Sea and beyond.
While Britain is keen to forge a common western position on China’s human rights abuses, it is uncertain if Britain’s overstretched military can take on significant duties in the Indo-Pacific region, The Times report pointed out.
The Royal Navy is planning to send its biggest flotilla of warships to Asia next year. But even with two aircraft carriers once HMS Prince of Wales becomes operational in 2023, it will not have the capacity for a permanent presence.
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