On Friday (local time), the White House agreed to hold a summit with US President Joe Biden in Hiroshima, Japan, on Saturday.
“After President Biden had to postpone his trip to Australia, the Quad leaders agreed that they would hold their summit in Hiroshima to ensure that the four leaders could come together to mark the Quad’s progress over the past year. So tomorrow, in addition to the G7, President Biden will participate in the third in-person Quad Leaders’ meeting with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia, Prime Minister Kishida Fumio of Japan, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India,” read a statement by White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. Earlier this week, the planned summit of Quad leaders from the US, India, Australia, and Japan in Sydney was cancelled after Biden withdrew from his visit due to ongoing debt limit talks in Washington.
“Along with sharing strategic assessments, the leaders will welcome new forms of Quad cooperation on secure digital technology, submarine cables, infrastructure capacity building, and maritime domain awareness,” said Jean-Pierre adding that Biden had thanked his fellow Quad leaders “for their flexibility,” and “looks forward to rescheduling his trip.”
Biden cancelled his trip to Sydney and a historic visit to Papua New Guinea earlier this week. The decision, which prompted Albanese to cancel the scheduled Quad summit, was seen as a self-inflicted blow to hopes of a more visible US presence in the Indo-Pacific, given the region’s competition with China.
The White House announced Thursday that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken would travel to Papua New Guinea in place of Biden to sign two security agreements with the Pacific island nation, on defence cooperation and maritime surveillance, in an effort to shore up regional support for countering Beijing, which has been expanding its clout in the region.
