Prime Minister Narendra Modi will join US President Joe Biden and Prime Ministers of Australia and Japan at a summit of Quad leaders in Tokyo on May 24, which takes place in the midst of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
With the announcement of Modi’s participation in the summit, Foreign Affairs spokesman Arindam Bagchi said Modi will also hold bilateral talks with US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
Modi is also likely to hold a bilateral meeting with his Australian counterpart.
“At the invitation of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the third Quad Leaders’ Summit in Tokyo on May 24, 2022, with President Joseph R Biden Jr. of the United States and Australian Prime Ministers.” said Bagchi.
The Tokyo Summit is the fourth interaction between Quad leaders since their first virtual meeting in March 2021.
They held a personal summit in Washington last September and a virtual meeting in March.
“The upcoming Quad Summit will allow leaders to exchange views on developments in the Indo-Pacific region and current global issues of common interest,” Bagchi said at a media briefing.
“Leaders will review progress for Quad initiatives and working groups, identify new areas of collaboration and provide strategic guidance and vision for future collaboration,” he added.
The Quad has focused on collaboration in areas such as vaccine production, connection projects, promoting student mobility and has looked at promoting startups and technology collaboration.
The Quad Vaccine Partnership was announced in March last year with a goal of delivering one billion doses of vaccines to the Indo-Pacific region by the end of 2022.
Bagchi said Modi will have a bilateral meeting with Kishida, adding that it will allow the two leaders to continue their talks from the 14th India-Japan Annual Summit in March when the Japanese Prime Minister visited India.
During the visit, the Prime Minister will attend a business event with Japanese business leaders and also speak and interact with the Indian community in Japan, the spokesman said.
On Modi’s scheduled meeting with Biden on May 24, Bagchi said it would mark a continuation of their regular dialogue.
“The two leaders are expected to review the strategic partnership between India and the United States and follow up on discussions held during the Prime Minister’s bilateral meeting with President Biden in September 2021. They will also exchange views on regional and global development of common interest,” he said.
Bagchi said Modi is likely to have a bilateral meeting with Australia’s prime minister, where elections are due to be held on May 21.
“The two leaders are expected to review India-Australia’s comprehensive strategic partnership and exchange views on regional and global developments of common interest,” he said.
“The last bilateral meeting between the two prime ministers was held on virtually 21 March, followed by the signing of the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) on 2 April,” Bagchi added.