United States President Joe Biden on Sunday said that the Quad Leaders’ Virtual Summit held last week went very well, Reuters reported. Besides Biden, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his Japanese counterpart Yoshihide Suga also participated in the event, which was the first of of its kind.
“It went very well,” Biden told reporters in White House, when asked how the summit went. “Everybody seemed to like it a great deal.”
In his opening remarks at the Quad meeting on Friday, Biden had said that the grouping will be a vital arena for cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region. He had described the alliance as a new mechanism to boost cooperation and raise mutual ambition.
Meanwhile, Modi had said that the four countries were “united by democratic values and commitment to a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific”.
The Quad countries also vowed to uphold a rules-based international order, underpinned by “respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty, freedom of navigation and peaceful resolution of disputes”.
The Quad has already assumed strategic significance with China commenting ahead of the summit, that the four countries need to do things that are “conducive to regional peace and stability” instead of the opposite.
Meanwhile, US Indo-Pacific Command chief Admiral Phil Davidson had told in a Congressional hearing last week that as a result of the recent developments along the Line of Actual Control, India was likely to deepen its engagement with the Quad group of countries “in the very near term”.
“I think you will see India in the very near term...remain committed to their non-aligned approach, but I think they will deepen their engagement with the Quad, and I think that’s a key strategic opportunity for us, Australia, and Japan,” Davidson had said.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!