PM Modi arrives in President Biden’s longtime home Wilmington for Quad summit
China and Russia would be “critical priorities” in the bilateral meeting between Mr Modi and Mr Biden, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said
by Sriram Lakshman · The HinduPrime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Wilmington, Delaware on Saturday (September 21, 2024) for a summit level meeting of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) with U.S. President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. He was greeted by supporters with a cultural performance at Hotel Dupont in downtown Wilmington upon his arrival.
Mr. Biden, who is in the final months of his presidency, hosted the Quad in his hometown , keen to emphasise the personal connect he has with other leaders. On the summit agenda are announcements around new joint coast guard exercises, an initiative to combat cancer , and an expansion of the Quad fellowship.
China and Russia would be “critical priorities” in the bilateral meeting between Mr Modi and Mr Biden, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Saturday (September 21, 2024).
“Countries like India should step up and support the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity, and that every country everywhere should refrain from supplying inputs to Russia’s war machine,” Mr Sullivan said, adding that Mr Biden would hear from Mr Modi about the Prime Minister’s visit to Ukraine in August.
On China, Mr Sullivan said the two leaders would discuss not just security but also technology and economic aspects of their dynamics with Beijing and try and coordinate approaches “to the extent that it makes sense for both countries”.
However, Mr Sullivan also said there would not be a “Quad approach” to China and that each country has its own approach to Beijing.
China, along with other countries, like DPRK (North Korea) will be discussed and the Summit’s joint statement will contain “some of the strongest language” to date on the South China Sea and with regard to North Korea, another senior U.S. administration official said.
The U.S. Coast Guard will welcome Indian, Australian and Japanese coast guards on board its vessel in the Indo Pacific, with other countries then taking turns to host, as part of a new Quad initiative.
In the context of China, a senior Biden administration official emphasised that the Quad continues to be defined “as a partnership, not a military alliance of any kind”.
On the joint exercises by the coast guards of Quad members, the official said it was not to be seen as a red flag but consistent with the Quad’s goal of “reinforcing peace and stability and the continuity of international law”.
The ‘Quad Cancer Moonshot ‘– a pet project of Mr Biden, whose adult son died of cancer in 2015, will involve screening, vaccines and treatment , supported by donations from all four Quad partners, a senior administration official told reporters on the eve of the summit.
The Summit will also announce that the Quad fellowship , a program launched in 2021 to bring STEM graduate students from Quad countries to the U.S. for further study, is officially being expanded to include students from South East Asian countries.
Along with the Coast Guard exercise, a Quad logistics network will be launched that allows for sharing cargo space on vessels and aircraft for humanitarian and disaster relief (HADR) missions. The outcomes will also involve Open RAN (radio access networks) pilots in the Pacific Islands and South East Asia.
The Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA), a program to monitor the marine environment for unregulated fishing and humanitarian disasters , will be expanded to cover the Indian Ocean region, under India’s leadership, a Biden administration official said. This expansion will include new training programs and the deployment of new technology. The program has been conducting pilot exercises in the region.
Published - September 21, 2024 08:41 pm IST