PM: Quad Summit opportunity to review initiatives’ progress

The 2nd in-person Quad Leaders’ Summit in Japan will provide an opportunity for leaders of four countries to review the progress of the grouping’s initiatives and exchange views on developments in Indo-Pacific as well as on global issues of mutual interest, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday.

In his departure statement ahead of his visit to Japan from May 23-24, Modi said during his visit he will also hold a bilateral meeting with US President Joe Biden, where they will discuss further consolidation of the multi-faceted bilateral relations.

“We will also continue our dialogue on regional developments and contemporary global issues,” he said.

Modi said he will be visiting Tokyo at the invitation of his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida, and noted that in March 2022, he had hosted Kishida for the 14th India-Japan Annual Summit.

“During my visit to Tokyo, I look forward to continuing our conversation further, with an aim to strengthen the India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership,” he said.

In Japan, Modi said, he will also participate in the second in-person Quad Leaders’ Summit, which will provide an opportunity for the leaders of the four Quad countries to review the progress of initiatives taken by the grouping.

“We will also exchange views about developments in the Indo-Pacific region and global issues of mutual interest,” Modi said.

The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue comprises India, the

US, Japan and Australia.

Modi also noted that the newly-elected Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will be joining the Quad Leaders’ Summit for the first time.

“I look forward to a bilateral meeting with him during which the multifaceted cooperation between India and Australia under the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, and regional and global issues of mutual interest will be discussed,” Modi said.

In his statement, the Prime Minister also said economic cooperation between India and Japan is an important aspect of their Special Strategic and Global Partnership. “During the March Summit, PM Kishida and I had announced our intention to realize JPY 5 trillion in public and private investment and financing over the next five years from Japan to India,” Modi said.

“During the forthcoming visit, I will meet with Japanese business leaders with the goal of further strengthening economic linkages between our countries, in pursuit of this objective,” he said.

At a media briefing on Saturday, Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra had said the Quad leaders are expected to deliberate on the challenges and opportunities in the Indo-Pacific besides focusing on post-COVID recovery, health security, sustainable infrastructure and resilient supply chains at their summit talks in Tokyo on May 24.

China says US’ Indo-Pacific strategy ‘bound to fail’

China on Sunday launched a broadside against the Indo-Pacific strategy of the United States ahead of the summit of Quad leaders in Japan, saying that it is “bound to fail” as it is vigorously promoted by Washington to “contain” Beijing.

The “Indo-Pacific strategy” is causing more and more vigilance and concern in the international community, especially in the Asia-Pacific region, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said when asked about the Indo-Pacific strategy at his joint press conference with Pakistan Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou. The US “Indo-Pacific Strategy” is bound to be a failed strategy, Wang said in the comments posted by the Chinese Foreign Ministry on its website.

China refers to the area as Asia-Pacific region and is averse to the Indo-Pacific strategic concept which has gained prominence during previous US President Donald Trump’s tenure and vigorously pursued by his successor Joe Biden.

I look forward to a bilateral meeting with new Australian PM Anthony Albanese during which the multifaceted cooperation between two countries under Comprehensive Strategic Partnership will be discussed — Narendra Modi, Prime Minister