From left, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, U.S. President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are greeted by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, during their arrival to the Quad leaders summit in 2022
| Photo Credit: AP
New Delhi will miss its turn to host the Quad Summit in India this year, sources confirmed, as leaders of U.S.-Australia-Japan and India will meet in the United States instead, at a special summit ahead of UN meetings later this month.
According to the sources, MEA officials have confirmed participation in the Summit, including U.S. President Joseph Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to be hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 21, when he travels to New York ahead of the UN Summit of the Future, the UN General Assembly, and a diaspora event.
Also read | The importance of both Quad and BRICS
However, diplomatic sources said a final decision on the venue is awaited as a number of different possibilities were being discussed, and the summit could be held in New York or even at Rehoboth Beach in Delaware, where U.S. President Joseph Biden spends the weekend, as the date falls on a Saturday. One official said that the Delaware venue was “an option under consideration” while others said the choice of venue is “still unclear”, given the election campaign under way in the United States.
This is the first time India will host the Quad Summit, which was upgraded to the leadership level in 2021. The date for the summit has been a difficult negotiation for Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) officials, particularly given the election dates and travel schedules of all the leaders involved. The Modi government had begun the process of inviting the other Quad members last September when they were in Delhi for the G-20 Summit, and Mr. Modi had requested Mr. Biden to attend as Chief Guest of the Republic Day parade on January 26 this year; this was to be followed by the Quad summit with Mr. Kishida and Mr. Albanese on January 27. However, Mr. Biden declined the January invitation, as well as subsequent suggestions for him to travel to India in February and July, citing the U.S. election campaign as he was still in the Presidential race at the time.
Other possible dates have been held up for other reasons: India’s elections delayed the Quad process until June, while the Ruling party LDP elections in Japan were announced for the last week of September, casting doubt over Mr. Kishida’s presence. Mr. Kishida has now bowed out of the leadership race and as Prime Minister after the elections, but he will attend the Quad Summit and the UN Summit of the Future before returning to Japan for the LDP elections scheduled on September 27.
As India began to narrow down a date for holding the Quad summit on the sidelines of the UN meetings, another problem emerged, as Australian Prime Minister Albanese said he could not travel due to domestic political commitments. Australian elections are due in May 2025, and could be held earlier, as the government faces criticism over a slew of reforms, immigration and housing issues. Eventually, sources say, it was a call by Mr. Modi to Mr. Albanese on August 26 that persuaded him to reconsider travelling to the United States for the Quad summit. The MEA readout of the call quoted Prime Minister Modi, saying that “both leaders took stock of progress in the bilateral relations and cooperation in the multilateral fora, including the Quad”, without further details.
Officials have been preparing the agenda for the Quad summit, which was discussed during the meeting of the four foreign ministers in Japan on July 29, including “maritime security, critical and emerging technologies, cyber security, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, health security, climate change, counterterrorism, infrastructure and connectivity, and addressing the debt crisis through sustainable, transparent and fair lending and financing practices”.
However, given that neither Mr. Biden nor Mr. Kishida will be in position after the next few months, it remains to be seen whether more concrete decisions will be left to the next Quad Summit, due to be held in the United States in 2025.
Published – September 06, 2024 10:31 pm IST
Images are for reference only.Images and contents gathered automatic from google or 3rd party sources.All rights on the images and contents are with their original owners.
Comments are closed.