The leaders of Australia, India, Japan and the United States are likely to announce new collaborations in the areas of Covid vaccine, space, 5G etc as issues like challenges in the Indo Pacific, climate change and the Covid pandemic are on the table. This will be the first-ever in-person Quad summit at the White House and assumes significance in the backdrop of China criticising the “exclusive closed cliques”.
“Although we have a number of working groups, and we are deepening cooperation on a very daily basis, it is also the case that it is not a regional security organisation. We are going to address particular issues associated with the challenges confronting the Indo Pacific in the current environment,” the official said.
President Biden believes that too often these kinds of discussions are scripted and he really wants to be able to sit down and have a deeper conversation with all leaders in an environment where they can really share perspectives on what’s important to each of them as they go forward,” the official said.
“It also indicates that the Biden administration understands that the challenges of the 21st century will largely play out in the Indo-Pacific and we are doubling down on our efforts. This quad is part of a larger fabric of engagement that you will see,” the official added.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said he and his Indian counterpart and “dear friend” Narendra Modi have agreed on some important new initiatives, including low emissions technology partnership and ultra-low-cost solar programme, which will help in further deepening the economic ties between the two countries.
