Expect India and see it as leader within Quad: US official

Lauding India’s role in the Quad, the US has said that it expects and sees India as a leader within the Quad and expressed gratitude for its leadership.

While addressing a press briefing, US National Security Council Senior Director for East Asia and Oceania, Mira Rapp-Hooper, said that the US’ Indo-Pacific strategic mentions that it seeks New Delhi’s role as a leader in the region and is increasingly partnered with Washington, DC.

When asked about India’s role in Quad, Mira Rapp-Hooper said, “When it comes to the role that we expect India to play, we expect and indeed see India as a leader within the Quad. I think, the best encapsulation of, you know, the way we think about India’s role is captured in our Indo-Pacific strategy, where we say that the United States seeks an India that is increasingly a leader in the region and increasingly partnered with the United States.”

“The Quad has been an ideal venue through for which, through which rather we can work together because it not only allows for the critical exchange of strategic views where, of course, we are, as I say, increasingly aligned, but it also allows us to identify opportunities and priorities that not only matter to the United States or its traditional treaty allies like Australia and Japan, but really matter to India. So you see that through the Quad, we are increasingly working on projects in South Asia, which of course is a huge strategic priority for the government in Delhi. And we’re grateful for India’s leadership,” she added.

Mira Rapp-Hooper said that this year’s Quad Summit was scheduled to be held in India. However, she added that the decision to change the venue was taken considering the schedules of the four leaders. She stated that Prime Minister Narenda Modi agreed to swap host years with the US and US expects Quad leaders to meet in India in 2025.

Asked whether the next Quad Summit will take place in India, she said, “Yes, we do expect next year’s Quad Summit to take place in India. When we were planning for this year’s Quad Summit. India was, exactly as you say, scheduled to host. But as we looked at all four of these leaders schedules, it became increasingly clear that the best way to make sure that they met and have the time that they wanted to have these deep discussions would be this weekend here in the United States. So, Prime Minister Modi graciously agreed to swap host years with us and we do expect all four Quad leaders to meet in India next year.”

PM Narendra Modi will take part in the fourth Quad Leaders’ Summit in Wilmington, Delaware, which is being hosted by US President Joe Biden on September 21. Following the request of the US side to host the Quad Summit this year, India has agreed to host the next Quad Summit in 2025.

Quad is a diplomatic partnership between four countries–Australia, India, Japan, and the United States.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said on Thursday that PM Modi’s upcoming visit to the US will be an opportunity to have a substantive engagement with US President Joe Biden, where they will have the opportunity to review the comprehensive global strategic partnership between India and the United States.

While addressing a press briefing on PM Modi’s visit to the US, Misri said “…This is also going to be kind of a farewell event in so far as the Quad is concerned for President Biden and Prime Minister Kishida of Japan and therefore, the Quad event provides the Prime Minister with an opportunity to thank both leaders for their leadership in giving momentum and salience to the Quad partnership.”

He said, “There will be an opportunity to have a substantive engagement between Prime Minister and President Biden where they will have the opportunity to review the comprehensive global strategic partnership between India and the United States which today covers almost every aspect of human endeavour through the 50 plus engagements and bilateral dialogue mechanisms that we have between the two sides.”

“We also expect to have bilateral meetings with the leaders of Japan and Australia,” he added.