PM Modi, Biden May Meet Virtually as Morrison Hints at First Talks Between Quad Heads

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to meet Joe Biden for the first time since the US president took office in January this year. The two leaders may come face to face at the virtual meet of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) block.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday indicated that the leaders of the Quad block will hold their first meeting in the coming days. While no final dates have been announced, the meeting is likely to be held virtually.

Amid Beijing’s rising influence, the US, Japan, India and Australia will seek to counter China and discuss ties in the Indo-Pacific region. “This will become a feature of Indo-Pacific engagement,” said Morrison.

US President Joe Biden is going to be part of the talks. “This is one of the first things President Biden and I discussed when we spoke some weeks ago. And I spoke to Vice-President KamalaHarris just this past week,” ANI quoted Morrison.

Stressing on the importance of the ‘Quad’ meeting, the Australian prime minister said, “The Quad is very central to the US and our thinking about the region, and looking at the Indo-Pacific also through the prism of our ASEAN partners and their vision of the Indo-Pacific. I am looking forward to that first gathering of the Quad leaders.”

Further, he expressed hopes that the talks would be followed by face-to-face meetings.

“The President and indeed, the Secretary of State, have made clear that their re-engagement in multilateral organisations, particularly in the Indo-Pacific, is key to building stability and peace in the Indo-Pacific. We share that view. We encourage that view. And we strongly welcome that view. And so I am looking forward to that first gathering of the Quad leaders. It will be the first-ever such gathering,” added Morrison.

‘Quad’ is a security grouping that is seen by many analysts as a group of democracies India, Japan, Australia and the United States coming together to counterbalance China in the Asia-Pacific region.

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