The leaders of the Quad grouping are set to gather for a key summit in US President Joe Biden’s hometown on September 21, instead of hosting the event in India, the current rotating chair.
The upcoming summit, in Wilmington, Delaware, will be the last for both Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, as they are expected to step down from their positions soon. According to Japanese newspaper Nikkei Aisa, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will also be in attendance, as they are scheduled to visit the US for the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
UNGA High-Level Summit
During the UNGA later this month, Modi is expected to address the high-level “Summit of the Future.” According to the Japanese newspaper, the decision to hold the summit in Wilmington, rather than on the sidelines of the UN in New York, was made after consultations among Quad partners. This move enables Biden to host the gathering in his final year as president, while India will have the opportunity to host Quad leaders in 2025.
The Quad, which began in 2004 as an ad hoc grouping for disaster response, was revived in 2017 under former US President Donald Trump. However, it was under Biden’s administration that the first leader-level summits were held, both virtually in March 2021 and in person at the White House in September of that year.
The upcoming summit in Wilmington will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Quad’s formation. It will also provide an opportunity for the leaders to engage in the comprehensive agenda of the Quad partnership, which includes COVID-19 response, critical and emerging technologies, and supply chain cooperation. Despite the Quad’s growing importance in the Indo-Pacific region, the upcoming summit comes amid an intense US presidential election campaign.
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