Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to the United States to be part of the first in-person summit of the leaders of the Quad grouping of nations in the coming week, the US White House said in a statement. The Quad is led by the United States, Japan, India and Australia, in an effort to push back against the growing assertiveness of China in the Indo-Pacific. The summit will be hosted by US President Joe Biden.
According to a statement by White House press secretary Jen Psaki: "The Biden-Harris administration has made elevating the Quad a priority, as seen through the first-ever Quad leaders-level engagement in March, which was virtual, and now this summit, which will be in-person. Hosting the leaders of the Quad demonstrates the Biden-Harris administration’s priority of engaging in the Indo-Pacific, including through new multilateral configurations to meet the challenges of the 21st century."
Earlier, India and Australia have called for a "broad-based and inclusive" government in Afghanistan to ensure long-term peace and stability in the war-torn country, signalling their clear unwillingness to accord any recognition to the Taliban regime. In a joint statement issued early on Sunday following the inaugural India-Australia 2+2 ministerial dialogue, the two sides sought the protection of rights of women and children and their full participation in public life and expressed concerns over targeted violence against the defenders of their rights.
The two countries underlined the urgent need for all countries to take "immediate, sustained, verifiable and irreversible" action to ensure that no territory under their control is used for terrorist attacks and to expeditiously bring to justice the perpetrators of such strikes. Australia reiterated its condemnation of terrorist attacks in India, including 26/11 Mumbai, Pathankot and Pulwama attacks, and reiterated its support for New Delhi in the fight against terrorism, the joint statement said. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held in-person talks on Saturday with their Australian counterparts Marise Payne and Peter Dutton
