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The maiden Quad summit, involving leaders from Australia, India, Japan and the United States, will discuss a variety of global issues ranging from COVID-19 challenge, economic crisis and climate change, the White House said in report by PTI.
“That President Biden has made this one of his earliest multilateral engagements speaks to the importance we place on close cooperation with our allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at her daily news conference.
“A range of issues, course, we expect to be discussed, I should say, facing the global community from the threat of COVID to economic cooperation and, of course, to the climate crisis,” she said.
Hours after India’s announcement in this regard, Psaki said that on Friday morning, President Joe Biden will meet virtually with his counterparts in the Quad — Prime Minister Suga of Japan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, and Prime Minister Morrison of Australia.
“Formed in the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami and formalised in 2007, the Quad has met regularly at the working in foreign minister level. However, Friday will be the first time that the Quad is meeting at the leader level,” she said.
At a separate news conference, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said that the summit will showcase the Quad’s ability to pool capabilities and build habits of cooperation to address some of those urgent challenges they face.
“Now, at the same time, I would just note that the Quad is not about any single challenge. It’s not about any single competitor. This is an entity forged and formed because we share common interests… maritime security is, of course, an important one, but our shared interests go well beyond that. And I think you will see reflected in the agenda the breadth of those shared interests in the aftermath of the Quad meeting,” he said in response to a question.
