India should not join a Asia-NATO
Japanese PM called for the creation of an Asian NATO with deeper integration between friendly countries against China, Russia and North Korea. India does not share this view. Rightly so.
Reuters reports this: (reframed from original article)
Indian foreign minister says does not share Ishiba vision for Asian NATO
Ishiba on Tuesday said he would seek deeper ties with friendly nations to counter the gravest security threats his country has faced since World War Two. He has called for the creation of an Asian NATO, the stationing Japanese troops on U.S. soil and even for shared control of Washington's nuclear weapons as a deterrent against Japan's nuclear-armed neighbors, China, Russia and North Korea.
Jaishakar told an event at Washington's Carnegie Endowment for International Peace that unlike Japan, India had never been a treaty ally of another country.
"We don't have that kind of strategic architecture in mind," he said when asked about Ishiba's call. India and Japan, along with the United States and Australia, are part of the so-called Quad grouping of countries established as a counterbalance to China.
I believe this is the correct position to take.
India cannot join in a NATO-like alliance
Asian-NATO means so many different things:
It includes some positives like weapons integration, operation integration, and access to the best weapons.
But crucially, it ALSO means being dragged into unwanted wars, as a NATO-like alliance means war against one member means war against the entire NATO.
It also includes foreign bases operated by India AND US eyes and even bases on our soil, etc.
Even if we agree to Asia NATO, the US will not help us against China. Their weapons and support, if they come, will come a bit too late (see Ukraine), and it will result in a stalemate with a loss of territory. We can do better by ourselves. And more if we have a local defence industry.
It means a lot more spending on the US Military Industrial Complex, which will entrench itself in India. Consequently, all our local defence manufacturing will go away, and we will be dependent on the US, just as we are dependent on Russia today. No can do!
Just because India is not a part of Asia-NATO does not mean we will sit idle. We look out for our interest.
The US has the habit of trying to arm-twist allies. It has denied GE aircraft engines for our planes. We may end up sanctioning weird countries just to pacify the US to maintain our access to weapons.
As Swami Samarth Ramdas said, “जो दुसर्यावर विसंबला, त्याचा कार्य भाग बुडाला.” (One who relies on others loses.)
India needs to be self-reliant, or else it will end up a vassal state. We have won this freedom after innumerable sacrifices, loss of territory and continuous fighting. We owe it to ourselves to become self-reliant and truly independent.