Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to meet US President Joe Biden virtually as leaders of the four-nation Quad will assemble this month to work together for peace, prosperity and stability of the Indo-Pacific grouping.
The “Quad” is an informal strategic forum of the US, Japan, Australia, and India. It provides a platform for the four nations that have each had conflicts with China recently.
This could be PM Modi’s first meeting with Joe Biden since he took over as US President. The two leaders had spoken over the phone after Biden was declared the winner in a closely contested election in November last year. The Prime Minister’s Office has not officially confirmed such a meeting yet.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday indicated that the leaders of the Quad block will hold their first meeting in the coming days, and heads of the four nations will be present for the meeting, which will be followed by one-on-one interactions. While no final dates have been announced, the meeting is likely to be held virtually. Foreign Ministers of the four countries met last month to prepare for the meeting of the heads of government in March.
“It will be the first-ever such gathering. I have already had bilateral discussions about this with Narendra Modi and Yoshihide Suga, the Prime Minister of Japan, and of course the Prime Minister of India. And of course we’re looking forward to those discussions and follow-up face-to-face meetings as well,” Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said without giving details on the timing of the talks, expected to be held virtually.
Morrison said he had discussed arrangements with Biden and Kamala Harris and expected the talks would be followed by face-to-face meetings.
“The Quad is very central to the United States and our thinking about the region, and looking at the Indo-Pacific also through the prism of our Asean partners and their vision of the Indo-Pacific,” Morrison said, referring to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
President Biden’s first conversation with PM Modi took place on the phone on February 8, days after he was sworn in on January 20. The two leaders agreed to continue close cooperation on climate change, terrorism, and freedom of navigation. “The President underscored his desire to defend democratic institutions and norms around the world and noted that a shared commitment to democratic values is the bedrock for the US-India relationship,” the White House said in a readout of the call.
The two leaders also discussed that they would continue to cooperate and promote a “free and open Indo-Pacific” and committed to strengthening the regional architecture through the Quad.