New Delhi, Feb. 13 -- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, meeting on the sidelines of US President Donald Trump's inauguration ceremony at Washington DC and pledging the group's commitment to a "free and open Indo-Pacific where the rule of law, democratic values, sovereignty, and territorial integrity are upheld and defended", was interpreted in media as a message to China, which has been flexing its muscles in the strategically important region.

Though Quad was not configured or performed as a security alliance, the navies of its member countries and other countries have been engaged with the Indian Navy in ...