On September 21st, US President Joe Biden will host the final Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) Leaders Summit of his tenure in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have been invited to attend the meeting.
On Thursday (September 13th), White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre stated in a press release that this summit “reflects the deep personal relationships between Biden and the Quad leaders, as well as the importance of the Quad to all our countries.”
“The Quad Leaders Summit will focus on enhancing strategic convergence among our countries, advancing a shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific region, and delivering tangible benefits to Indo-Pacific cooperation partners in key areas.”
The White House announced that this summit will cover topics including health security, disaster response, maritime security, high-quality infrastructure, key and emerging technologies, climate and clean energy, as well as cybersecurity.
The Quad leaders’ summit has become one of the top foreign policy priorities for the US President, aiming to deepen America’s relations with Asian allies in order to better counter China’s growing military influence in the Indo-Pacific region.
This meeting comes amidst a heated presidential election campaign between Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump, and Democratic vice-presidential nominee Kamala Harris. In this campaign, the issue of China has taken the forefront.
Both candidates have vowed to take a tougher stance on China. Trump has pledged to impose tariffs on Chinese goods exceeding 60%. Meanwhile, Harris is expected to continue the Biden administration’s policies by imposing strict restrictions on technology exports to China and strengthening relationships with allies and partners to collectively counter China.
India holds the rotating chairmanship of the Quad summit this year. This will be the last meeting for the current leaders, as Kishida and Biden are set to step down at the end of this month and in January next year.