US President Joe Biden would host the first-ever in-person Quad summit on September 24 which will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japanese premier Yoshihide Suga will also attend, the White House announced on Monday.
The four leaders would discuss deepening their ties and advancing practical cooperation in areas like combating Covid-19, addressing the climate crisis and promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific, the White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said.
PM Modi and his Australian and Japanese counterparts Scott Morrison and Yoshihide Suga are expected in the US next week to attend UN General Assembly in New York.
In March, President Biden hosted the first-ever summit of the Quad leaders in the virtual format. The leaders had vowed to strive for an Indo-Pacific region that is free, open, inclusive, anchored by democratic? values, and unconstrained by coercion, sending a subtle message to China.
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The Biden-Harris administration has made elevating the Quad a priority, as seen through the first-ever Quad leaders-level engagement in March, which was virtual, and now this Summit, which will be in-person, the White House said.
“Hosting the leaders of the Quad demonstrates the Biden-Harris administration’s priority of engaging in the Indo-Pacific, including through new multilateral configurations to meet the challenges of the 21st century,” she said.
According to the White House, the Quad Leaders will be focused on deepening their ties and advancing practical cooperation on areas such as combatting COVID-19, addressing the climate crisis, partnering on emerging technologies and cyberspace and promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific.