- Monday, April 29, 2024
The Quad nations are, however, expected to meet on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan.
By: Shubham Ghosh
Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese has confirmed that the upcoming summit of Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) in Sydney will not be held, after US president Joe Biden cancelled his visit to the country to tackle domestic issues.
Albanese was hopeful even early on Wednesday (17) that the meeting with leaders of India and Japan could proceed with a senior official representing the US. Hours later, he confirmed that the four-nation summit would not be held.
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The Quad nations are, however, expected to meet on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, this weekend where the leaders of all the four nations, including Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida, will be present.
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While a meeting was still to be locked in for the G7 gathering, the Australian premier said it was “appropriate that we talk”, The Guardian reported.
“The Quad is an important body and we want to make sure that it occurs at leadership level and we’ll be having that discussion over the weekend,” he was quoted as saying by the news publication.
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Biden’s visit to Australia, with a stop at Papua New Guinea, had been long anticipated and would have featured his address to the country’s parliament.
Now, under the changed scenario, Albanese will hold a bilateral meeting with the US president in Hiroshima. He has also been invited to the US for a state visit later this year.
Modi will visit the US for a state visit on June 22 while Biden is expected to visit India for the G20 leaders’ summit in September.
It was not known whether the US president will be able to reschedule his visit to Australia. The cancellation of his visit, caused by hostile negotiations with the Republican-dominated US Congress over the Democratic government’s debt ceiling, comes at a crucial time in Washington’s engagement with the Pacific region.
The visit was expected to better the US’s renewed focus in the Indo-Pacific and help quell regional concerns over the AUKUS agreement involving the UK, besides the US and Australia.
Albanese also confirmed that Modi will still visit Australia for a bilateral meeting and make a public speech in Sydney.
“I look forward to welcoming him to Sydney. He made me a very welcome guest in March and he is the host of the G20 this year,” Albanese told ABC Radio Brisbane.
He also indicated that Kishida was no longer likely to visit Australia and noted that the latter had visited Perth in late 2022.
