Post by : Jyoti Gupta

Photo:AFP

For the first time since 2022, the leaders of Japan, South Korea, and Australia didn’t attend the Nato summit. Only New Zealand’s Prime Minister was present from the Indo-Pacific Four (IP4), a group of key Nato partners.

Even though these countries are not Nato members, they’ve been attending Nato summits since 2022 to discuss global security and strengthen ties. But this year, Japan, South Korea, and Australia chose to send lower-level officials instead of their top leaders.
South Korea and Australia said they had urgent things to handle at home and were concerned that conflicts in the Middle East were taking the US’s attention away from Asia. Japan’s leader canceled last minute because he wasn’t likely to meet US President Trump during the summit.

Many experts believe that these countries are now focusing more on direct talks with the United States, especially with growing worries about security in both Asia and Europe. They also feel the summit didn’t pay enough attention to the Indo-Pacific region this year, focusing mostly on the war in Ukraine and rising tensions in the Middle East.

Still, NATO and the IP4 countries continue to work closely, especially on defense, technology, and military cooperation. Even if the top leaders weren’t there this time, the partnership isn’t going away.

Some say China might be watching this closely and may try to take advantage of the situation. But experts believe that the Indo-Pacific countries will keep working with Nato because the world’s security problems—like threats from China, Russia, and other groups—are connected, and cooperation is more important than ever.