PM to attend online quadrilateral summit on Friday

Access to the COVID-19 vaccine, cooperation on technology and climate change are at the top of the agenda as Prime Minister Narendra Modi joins the Quadrilateral Framework’s virtual summit with US President Joseph Biden, Australian PM Scott Morrison and Japanese PM Yoshihide Suga. (Quad) On Friday – the leaders of the Indo-Pacific grouping are meeting for the first time.

The meeting is also one of Mr Biden’s first multilateral meetings, which the White House said was a demonstration of the importance of America’s cooperation with “allies and allies in the Indo Pacific”.

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The quad meeting, which China refers to as “Indo-Pacific NATO”, will be seen most closely for indications of how the grouping will deal with Beijing’s recent moves in Beijing, as well as a challenge on the Line of Actual Control. In Ladakh. It is also interested whether the four leaders will issue a joint statement at the end of the meeting, which will be another one first, as all quad engagement thus far has come out with four different readouts indicating differences in their positions .

Prior to the summit, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who will visit Japan and South Korea next week, said he hopes to “see something on vaccines” as a result of the summit, from 7pm IST on Friday Is expected to begin.

At the Quad Ministerial Summit in February, four countries discussed the need for international cooperation to ensure equal access to vaccines, especially in developing countries. India, the world’s largest manufacturer of vaccines, has already shipped more than 48 million doses worldwide, mainly through commercial shipments and the global COVAX alliance, but also in the form of grants, to increase its profits Is expected to request a quad investment. . In addition, India would like to see Western countries led by the US, who would oppose the WTO’s proposal to waive trade-related intellectual property (TRIPS) guidelines, to produce more vaccines liberally.

In its statement before the summit, the Ministry of External Affairs said that the leaders would discuss cooperation towards maintaining an “free, open and inclusive” Indo-Pacific region, as well as “flexible supply chains, emerging and critical technologies such as Challenges, maritime security and climate change. “

In addition, the agenda talks about the management of regional crises, including Myanmar, where military rulers take brutal actions against the elected government and protesters, as well as decisions in Afghanistan, where the US has outlined its latest plan. Global pleas against it continue to be ignored. To promote negotiation and the possible exit of his troops from the conflict.

The timing of the quad summit is also important as it comes amid an ongoing dialogue between India and China on the displacement process along the Line of Actual Control after nearly a year of deadlock between troops in Ladakh.

This comes just before Mr. Blinken’s field trip, after which he will fly to Alaska with U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan for the Biden Administration’s first meeting with Chinese counterparts Wang Yi and Yang Jiechi. US Defense Minister Lloyd Austin, who will join him in Tokyo and Seoul, will then travel to Delhi. Consequently, the results of the quad summit will also convey a message on India-China, India-US and US-China relations.

Mr Wang, who has been a sharp critic of the quad in the past, this week referred to the forthcoming quad summit warning against “selective multilateralism” and “group politics” in the region.

Experts said India’s message on the quad has been merged in what it refers to as one of the region’s many multilateral arrangements, which should not be “confused” with India’s Indo-Pacific policy, including Many more countries are involved, including the European Union, Britain. , France, Russia and others.

“India’s position has matured. We have understood that these public forums are built for certain requirements, [] Provided they are transparent and open and they respect the international order, “former Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said in a seminar on India-China relations organized by Carnegie India, that China’s opposition to the Quad is unfair, noting that the quadrilateral The Framework is “There is no treaty, no structure and no secretariat at this time.