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Japanese foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi on Friday drew an analogy between the Asian Quad with the iconic English rock band ‘The Beatles’ and said the grouping of Japan, Australia, the United States, and India is more like a “soft Beatles” where the members can release their “solo albums”.
Hayashi made the comments during a panel discussion at the Raisina Dialogue 2023 where all Quad foreign ministers participated. “This is not a band like the Beatles where everyone jointly releases an album every few years as a rock band… The members are fixed and they always play together for 10 years. This is more like a soft group within the Beatles, and like Paul McCartney may release a solo of their own,” Hayashi said, evoking laughter from the audience.
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The Japanese foreign minister’s analogy came after the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken remarked that the ORF president Samir Saran, who was moderating the discussion, was “an honorary member of the Quad…a sort of fifth Beatle”.
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“…It’s pretty nice to talk about the issues over Asia and the surrounding area because we have a trust between the four of us [Quad]… as we share the same values such as democracy, freedom…,” Hayashi further said, adding that the Quad can talk freely without worrying about any “big conditions”. He also noted that the Quad is not a military alliance and does not try to exclude anyone (including China). “…As long as China abides by international norms and laws then there are no conflicting issues between China and the Quad,” the Japanese minister asserted.
Blinken also explained the idea behind the Quad and said, “Quad is made to focus on certain things where the particular attributes of our countries when brought together make sense.” “There are other places where different groupings of the countries make more sense because they address the particular interests or attributes that those countries can bring to the table,” he noted.
Hayashi, who arrived in India on Friday, could not attend the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held Thursday due to an ongoing session of the Japanese Parliament.
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