The new Prime Minister of Japan, Shigeru Ishiba, calls on the Asia-Pacific countries to support his idea and form an Asian version of NATO. India explained that it has never joined military alliances, as this contradicts New Delhi’s strategy. The United States also spoke out against it . Details are in the Izvestia article.
Unite against China
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said New Delhi does not share the vision of an “Asian NATO” called for by new Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. He explained that India, which along with Japan, the US and Australia is part of the QUAD group of countries created to counter China, has no intention of joining the military bloc.
“We have a different history and a different approach,” the Foreign Minister explained . New Delhi has repeatedly emphasized that, despite the fact that QUAD deals with security issues, it is not intended as a military alliance.
He called for an Asian version of NATO, the stationing of Japanese troops on U.S. soil, and even joint control of Washington’s nuclear weapons as a deterrent against Japan’s nuclear-armed neighbors China, Russia, and North Korea.
In his opinion, this will help “deter China from using military force in Asia.”
However, the US rejected the idea. US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Washington was not going to create NATO in the Indo-Pacific region, while US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific Daniel Kritenbrink said it was too early for such talk.
However, despite this, a couple of days later Ishiba reiterated his idea, declaring at a press conference that “the relative decline in US power has made it necessary” to form an Asian analogue of NATO.
The new Japanese prime minister is also known for advocating for the abandonment of peaceful nuclear energy, for the transition to renewable energy sources and for revising the bilateral agreement on the status of the American military contingent in Japan in favor of greater equality and the possibility of stationing Japanese troops at American bases in Guam.
In addition, he advocates the deployment of American nuclear weapons in the Asia-Pacific region.