Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: After taming the pandemic to a large extent, leaders of four democracies—the US, India, Australia, and Japan—are meeting in America on September 24 to take the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) to the next level—to stitch together what some have called an Asian version of NATO.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in the first-ever, in-person Summit of Quad leaders on September 24 along with US President Joe Biden, Australian PM Scott Morrison, and Japanese PM Yoshihide Suga, amid
mounting global concerns over China’s growing military muscle-flexing in the Indo-Pacific region, media reports said on Tuesday.
They are likely to review the progress made since their first virtual summit on March 12 this year and discuss regional issues of shared interest, according to official sources.
As part of their ongoing efforts to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, they will also review the Quad vaccine initiative, announced in March this year.
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesman Arindam Bagchi tweeted that Modi will visit the US for the Quad leaders’ Summit and high-level segment of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
“They will also exchange views on contemporary global issues such as critical and emerging technologies, connectivity and infrastructure, cyber security, maritime security, humanitarian assistance/disaster relief, climate change, and education.
“The Summit would provide a valuable opportunity for dialogue and interactions among the Leaders, anchored in their shared vision of ensuring a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific region,” the statement said.
Earlier, Modi had visited the US in September 2019 when then-President Donald Trump hosted him for the grand ‘Howdy, Modi’ event.
This will be the Indian PM’s second foreign visit this year after his two-day Bangladesh tour in March for the neighboring nation’s Golden Jubilee Celebrations.
In March, President Biden had hosted the first-ever summit of the Quad leaders in the virtual format. They had vowed to strive for an Indo-Pacific region that is free, open, inclusive, anchored by democratic values, and unconstrained by coercion, sending a subtle message to China.
In November 2017, the four partners gave shape to the long-pending proposal of setting up the Quad to develop a new strategy to keep the critical sea routes in the Indo-Pacific free of any influence, indirectly targeting an aggressive China.
The Quad meeting is being held after Biden’s image took a battering over the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan in August.
According to US officials, America’s ending of its longest war in Afghanistan will allow Washington to divert resources and attention to tackling China-related issues.
The new US policy was supported by Senator Bill Hagerty, a Republican, and former US ambassador to Japan: “Biden’s Afghanistan withdrawal debacle made India’s neighborhood more dangerous and raises legitimate questions for Japan and Australia as well. So it’s good we will be hosting Quad partners soon,” he said on Twitter.
“We must repair and renew our alliances, and this one is key.”
During his US visit, PM Modi will also address the general debate of the High-Level Segment of the 76th Session of the UNGA (UNGA) on September 25 in New York.
The theme for this year’s general debate is ‘Building Resilience through hope to recover from Covid-19, rebuild sustainably, respond to the needs of the planet, respect the rights of people, and revitalize the United Nations.