WASHINGTON: The United States on Wednesday said that China will certainly be “top of the agenda” at the upcoming Quad summit to be hosted by President Joe Biden in Wilmington on September 21.
Speaking at a press briefing, US National Security Council (NSC) coordinator for strategic communications John Kirby stressed that it would be “irresponsible” for Quad leaders not to talk about the challenges posed in the region by China.
Further when asked how much focus will be given to China, the US official said, “I think it will certainly be at the top of the agenda. I mean, when you meet with these particular leaders, the Indo-Pacific, the Quad, there’s no occasion where you would really be irresponsible if they didn’t talk about the challenges that still exist because of aggressive PRC military action in the region, for example, unfair trade practices, tensions over the Taiwan Strait. I have no doubt all of those issues will come up.”
“I think you have to talk to the leaders about their particular view of the PRC. But, I think we all have a common understanding about the challenges that the PRC is posing, but each of them is a sovereign country; they have to decide for themselves what their relationship with the PRC will be and what it looks like; each of them has a different relationship with the PRC, including us,” he said.
‘Summit of the future’
Biden is set to host the 4th in-person Quad summit in Delaware. This will be the first time Biden will host the leaders in his hometown. These include leaders like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Australian PM Anthony Albanese and Japanese PM Fumio Kishida. Speaking about the upcoming Quad summit, Kirby further said that Biden will meet each leader and also hold a plenary session, where they will discuss a number of important issues. “The President will meet with each of them individually, and then we will also meet together in a larger plenary session, where they will discuss enhancing cooperation on a number of important issues.” He said, “I think you can expect a robust agenda aimed at delivering concrete benefits to the people of the region as they all identify priorities such as health, security, natural disaster response, maritime security, quality infrastructure, critical and emerging technologies, climate and clean energy, and cybersecurity. You will also see some announcements that demonstrate our intent to ensure that this special partnership of the Quad continues to thrive and really flourish for a long time. Certainly as we get closer to the weekend, we will share on specific deliverables.”
PM Modi in US
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a visit to the US from September 21 to 23, during which he will attend the Quad summit. The Indian Prime Minister will address the ‘Summit of the Future’ at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 23.
During the summit, when asked if Biden intends to press PM Modi on the issue of human rights during their bilateral meeting, Kirby replied, “There is not a conversation he has with foreign leaders in which he does not talk about the importance of respecting human and civil rights and that includes conversations with Prime Minister Modi. He did that when the Prime Minister was here in the United States and I’m sure, when appropriate, he will do so going forward. I’m not going to take away from the conversation, but he has never shied away from talking about our concerns on human and civil rights anywhere in the world.”
A MEA release said that at the Quad summit, the leaders will review the progress achieved by the Quad in the past year and set the agenda for the year ahead to assist countries in the Indo-Pacific region in meeting their development goals and aspirations.