PM Modi to attend Quad Leaders Summit in Sydney next month

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Sydney next month for the third Quad Leaders’ Summit hosted by Australian PM Anthony Albanese which will also be attended by the US President Joe Biden and Japanese PM Fumio Kishida.

The Quad partners will be meeting immediately after the G7 Leaders’ Summit in Hiroshima (May 19-21) for which Kishida has already extended an invitation to PM Modi.

The extensive interactions will continue as a few months later in September, India will host the leaders again for the G20 Leaders’ Summit.

It is for the first time that Australia will be hosting the Quad Leaders’ Summit – the third in-person meeting of the top leaders from four nations.

Interestingly, the Summit will be held at the Sydney Opera House, Australia’s most recognisable building.

The Quad is a diplomatic partnership of four countries committed to promoting stability, resilience and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific. India, Australia, Japan and the United States share a vision for a region that is governed by accepted rules and norms, where all can cooperate, trade and thrive.

Together, Quad partners are taking practical action to address shared regional challenges, including improving regional health security, advancing critical and emerging technologies, strengthening connectivity, enhancing clean energy innovation and boosting supply chain resilience.

This year, Quad partners are playing a strong leadership role in the Indo-Pacific through hosting the G20 (India), G7 (Japan), and APEC (US).

In Sydney, Quad Leaders will discuss how the Quad can work alongside partners and regional groupings, foremost ASEAN and the Pacific Islands Forum, to strengthen our cooperation and shape the region we all want to live in.

The Australian PM emphasised on Wednesday that Quad partners have deeply invested in the success of the Indo-Pacific.

“I look forward to discussing with Quad Leaders how we – alongside important regional institutions, such as ASEAN, the Pacific Islands Forum, the Indian Ocean Rim Association and our regional partners – can shape the Indo-Pacific region we all want to live in,” said Albanese.

Last year, immediately after taking over as the Australian PM, Albanese flew to Tokyo for the Quad Leaders meeting to begin his Prime Ministership “in a very positive way” by holding discussions on common interests in the Indo-Pacific region.

“The Quad leaders will discuss how they can deepen their cooperation on critical and emerging technologies, high-quality infrastructure, global health, climate change, maritime domain awareness, and other issues that matter to the people of the Indo-Pacific,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said today on Biden’s travel to Sydney.

India too has been spotlighting the importance of delivering on Quad’s positive and constructive agenda and show tangible benefits for the region.

“In such a short time, Quad has assumed an important place on the world stage. Today the scope of Quad has become broader and the format has become effective. Our mutual cooperation at the Quad level is giving a boost to a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region, which is the common objective of all of us,” said PM Modi in his opening remarks at the last year’s summit in Tokyo.