Australia/NewDelhi: Shortly after Joe Biden postponed his trip to Australia due to debt ceiling negotiations in Washington, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday said a Quad summit would not go ahead in Sydney next week without the US President. Albanese, however, said the leaders of Australia, the United States, India and Japan would instead meet at the G7 in Hiroshima this weekend. India and Australia are not part of the G7 group of seven rich nations – the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States – but have been invited to attend the summit, which is scheduled to be held between May 19 and May 21.
“The Quad leaders meeting will not be going ahead in Sydney next week. We, though will be having that discussion between Quad leaders in Japan,” Anthony Albanese told a news conference.
A bilateral programme in Sydney with Prime Minister Narendra Modi could still go ahead next week, he added.
“We are in discussions with the Quad leaders over today. We’ll make further announcements about that, but Prime Minister Modi would certainly be a very welcome guest here next week,” the Australian PM said.
In November 2017, India, Japan, the US and Australia 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 amid China’s aggressive behaviour in the region.
Joe Biden cancels Australia leg of his Asia trip due US debt ceiling
US President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced that he will postpone the Australia leg of his Asia trip, along with that of Papua New Guinea, given the uncertainty and intense negotiations with the opposition Republican party to ensure that America does not default on its debt for the first time in history.
Biden has been forced to turn his attention to domestic politics, as he works to hash out a deal with Republicans to prevent the US from defaulting on its debts at the end of this month.
“Revitalizing and reinvigorating our alliances and advancing partnerships like the Quad remains a key priority for the President,” the White House said in an official statement.
This is vital to our ability to advance our foreign policy goals and better promote global stability and prosperity, the statement said.
“We look forward to finding other ways to engage with Australia, the Quad, Papua New Guinea and the leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum in the coming year,” the White House added.
Japan hosted last Quad Leaders’ Summit
Earlier on May 24, 2022, Japan’s Prime Minister Kishida hosted the fourth Quad Leaders’ Summit, the second in-person, with PM Modi, Albanese and Biden. At the Summit, they acknowledged the progress the Quad had made on existing commitments, including taking action on climate change, supporting regional partners respond to the global coronavirus pandemic, such as delivering over 790 million safe and effective Covid-19 vaccine doses, addressing cyber security, harnessing critical and emerging technologies, and cooperating on space-related applications and technologies.
They had also announced Quad initiatives on health security, climate change, maritime domain awareness, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, cyber, space and infrastructure.
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