PM Narendra Modi to participate in QUAD leaders virtual meet today

Quad Leaders Summit 2022: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in a Quad Leaders' virtual meeting today along with US President Joe Biden, Australian PM Scott Morrison, and Japanese PM Fumio Kishida. The Ministry of External Affairs stated that the leaders will exchange views and assessments about important developments in the Indo-Pacific.

The Quad Leaders will also review ongoing efforts to implement the Leaders’ initiatives announced as part of the Quad's contemporary and positive agenda.

The QUAD leaders will have an opportunity to continue their dialogue after the September 2021 Summit in Washington DC. The meeting was not previously scheduled, as Japan is scheduled to host the next in-person summit of the Quad in the first half of 2022.

PM @narendramodi will participate along with President of USA @POTUS @JoeBiden, Prime Minister of Australia @ScottMorrisonMP, and Prime Minister of Japan @kishida230 in a Quad Leaders' virtual meeting today.

Press Release ➡️ https://t.co/jEFRFrOiGH

— Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) March 3, 2022

The four QUAD nations are yet to finalise a date for this meeting due to a variety of scheduling reasons.

Key Agenda

The main agenda of the current virtual summit is to discuss developments in the Indo-Pacific. MEA said in a statement that the virtual summit will provide the leaders with an opportunity to continue their dialogue and they will exchange views about important developments in the Indo-Pacific.

They will exchange views and assessments about important developments in the Indo-Pacific. The Quad Leaders will also review ongoing efforts to implement the Leaders’ initiatives announced as part of the Quad's contemporary and positive agenda, MEA says.

— ANI (@ANI) March 3, 2022

Significance

The QUAD leaders’ virtual summit will be held at the backdrop of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The agenda, however, does not include the Ukraine crisis. India had chosen to abstain three times in a vote against Russia at the United Nations, while other three QUAD members had voted in favour of Ukraine. India has though repeatedly urged Russia to cease its military operations in Ukraine.

Background

The QUAD leaders had met last in September 2021 at Washington DC. The latest meeting comes as the United States and its Western allies are leading the international community in bringing crippling sanctions against the Vladimir Putin-led Russian regime.